Dream
by KaiMiiru
Summary: (FIXED) A player herself takes Frisk's place in Undertale. Will she be able to escape? A self-insert fanfic
1. Chapter 1

The gentle smell of daisies brought me back from a black dream. Before I opened my eyes, I tried to remember what I was doing before, if I needed to do anything. Nothing, just a voice whispering, "You need to wake up."

I opened my eyes to a pinprick of bright light far away in the distance. Blinking as it burned my eyes, I slowly sat up, feeling sore. I realized that I had smashed some golden yellow daisies. How did I get here? I... I didn't know what to do. I patted my pockets and was relieved to find my phone. I quickly unlocked it, and called my mother.

"Your call could not go through because there is no cellular reception."

In a panic, I texted her instead.

Message has failed to send.

I stood up and tried again and again and again, walking around the cavern. I tried to convince myself I would be okay, the daisies I was trying to avoid stepping on were so pretty and they smelled so nice.

"Mom? Dad? Grandma? Anybody?!" I called out in desperation. I was greeted with silence. I crouched and stared at a daisy, trying to get rid of the panic settling in my chest by studying the detail of every ridge and every cell, drawing it out in my mind. I took a deep breath, the deepest I could take, and then slowly let it out, only to do so three more times. At the pinnacle of my deepest breath and with my lungs somewhat stretched out, I yelled in a voice that vibrated the air against my skin with the intensity of its emotion, "MOM! DAD! GRANDMAAAAA! SOMEBODY! I'M LOST!"

The cavern echoed with my voice... and I heard a response.

"Over here! Come over here!"

I stood up and ran towards that voice, through a doorway into a dark room. Only a glowing flower with a face greeted me with a cartoonish smile.

"Hello there! You're a big human aren't you?" He said warmly as I approached carefully. I knelt down to his level and examined his features, more curious than anything. Was he real? He looked like the daisy I saw before, but the face... his eyes were black and beady, and I could vaguely see slits in places. He examined me back, staring at my eyes the entire time.

"Hi... you're..." I smiled a bit, "Asriel and... Chara?"

The flower's happy expression shifted into a grumpy one.

"So you know how this world works, huh... You're no fun. You don't even look like Chara, you're older too, are you some kind of glitch?"

"I... I'm the one who makes decisions and dodges attacks... Like, the player?"

"Now that I look at you... you might be an older version of Chara." The flower's face shifted, his eyes burning white with anger, "Quit playing tricks on me, you-!"

A fireball cut him off , and he sprang out of the ground spinning to dodge it. I fell back from the fire, eyes wide and feeling a bit annoyed that our conversation and my train of thought was cut off. I looked to where he fell with some amount of worry and didn't see him.

"That creature is dangerous, young one." A woman's voice made me look up from my kneeling position. A humanoid goat in a purple sleeveless robe greeted my vision, and the smell of fur quickly hit my nostrils. It reminded me of a goat I met in the petting zoo mixed with the sweet scent of sweets. It wasn't a bad smell. Animals actually smell a sort a musky sweetness when they're cleaned properly, and who didn't like the smell of pie crust?

"I think I'm in a dream, please help me wake up." I replied. I knew which world I was in... Undertale. A video game. It was impossible, but it seemed to be reality now. "This world is beautiful and mysterious but I would rather be writing in my room... in my own world." My voice shook, I wanted to go home.

"I assure you, this is unfortunately not a dream. Please, come with me, I'll take you somewhere safe." She knelt and gently took my hand. Her grip was soft and warm, yet firm. Proof of her gentle heart yet stubborn protectiveness. She pulled me to my feet and led me deeper into the ruins, letting me go when she was sure I was following her. "You are the first human to come through in a long time."

"..." I wasn't sure what to say. I was busy looking at the purple moss covering almost everything and the green leafy plants. A pile of red leaves greeted me at the stairs at the entrance, and I considered jumping into them. I paused, picking one up. It was a splendidly red leaf. "I really life red leaves, it almost makes me think of blood running through the veins of trees instead of light and water." I commented as I followed a patient Toriel.

"That is a... macabre description." She replied, blinking at me when I looked up at her, at a loss for words until she smiled, "Perhaps you like red because your soul is the same color."

I nodded thoughtfully like I was in class. "Okay."

We entered a hallway. I disliked hallways, as there was nowhere to hide from the monsters hiding in the shadows... I walked closer to Toriel unconsciously so we were nearly side by side, and she patted my head with softer and more curious fingers than my dad's blunt pat.

"Do not worry, I will protect you." She spoke, making me blush at my apparent weakness. I was nineteen years old, I did not like being treated like glass! I pushed away my longing for affection and retreated from her touch. "Do not be embarrassed, child, I am fond of humans and feel a need to protect them."

My flare of anger dissipated. It just wasn't worth it, her intentions were not harmful. I quietly followed behind her to the end of the hallway, deep in thought as usual.

She lead me through the catacombs, she seemed to be in a hurry as she solved all the puzzles for me. Or maybe she was coddling me. Probably both.

"As a human living in the underground, monsters may attack you. While fighting, strike up a friendly conversation. I will be there in time to defend you. Practice talking to the dummy over there." She instructed, pointing to a ragged dummy in the shape on humanoid anteater on a stick... or something.

"Toriel, I don't want to live in the underground... and this world isn't mine. I just want to wake up." I said, refusing to approach the dummy as stress built up in my heart. Toriel reached out to comfort me, but I retreated back, the look on my face causing such sadness in Toriel's eyes that I almost felt like I slapped her.

"There is no safe way to the surface, young one... I can only help you survive." She said, looking down.

"I don't need to go to the surface, I need to go into my world..." I smiled a bit, this was so weird, "Like, is there a way for interdimensional travel or something?" This brought Toriel out of her sad daze as she looked at me in utter confusion, before laughing.

"Ohoho, you have quite the imagination! There is no such thing." She said, and my shoulders slumped and my eyes prickled with tears. I controlled my expression and breaths, barely hearing Toriel's next words as I controlled my frustration. "While you are here... I want you to survive, so please... do as I say."

I shuffled over to the dummy and quickly hid my stress with an inside joke, "Hey dummy, I heard if you get angry enough you become fused with your form. Tell that to all your brothers, huh?" While speaking I lost control of my expression and tears trickled down my face. Toriel beamed at me proudly, but made no move to touch me or comment on my tears to my relief.

Really, I was still a kid wasn't I? Yeesh...

I followed her, wiping away my tears. Along the way a froggit barreled me over and I barely folded my leg behind me to break my fall and roll to my hands and knees. Thank you, Akido class.

"I'll leave you out in the sun to dry up, you little..." I growled, standing back up and glaring at the froggit. It glared back. Toriel went up behind the giant frog and tapped its shoulder with a glare that was probably the sun I was warning about. The frog sheepishly hopped away.

We continued on, Toriel took my hand led me through a spike puzzle. The spikes sunk under our feet harmlessly, but looked plenty sharp. I didn't mind holding hands.

"Mind if I lock arms with you?" I asked at some point, the closer I was to Toriel the safer I felt, honestly. Those giant frogs scared the beejeebies out of me, jumping from nowhere.

"... You have done excellently this far, but I'm afraid you must walk to the end of the room by yourself, young one. I apologize for this." She let go of my hand and ran ahead, so fast I couldn't hope of keeping up with her.

The silence and the lack of the warmth chilled me. I walked down the room, humming the opening to an anime as I did. I knew Toriel was waiting for me at the end, and really it cut the suspense of the moment. But what if she isn't? I wondered, Well, I am screwed then. I can't even throw a proper punch.

Honestly, I was at the point of stress where I just didn't give a flying frog anymore.

I eyed the column at the end of the room, and in a moment of impish play I made my footsteps quieter by stepping with the sides of my feet, took a deep breath in and held my breath. I fast-walked to the pillar, slowly letting out air from my nose, where I found a tuft of white fur, and as she moved to look at me I did my signature growl-scream I use for working in haunted houses.

"AAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHRGHRGHRRRRRRR!"

Needless to say Toriel jumped right out of her fur and backed up to look at me with wide eyes, flames erupting in her hands in reflex. I burst out laughing, leaning against the pillar and pounding it, my emotional response amplified by my stress while this act seemed to dissipate some of it.

"Ohoho, it seemed you caught me..." She looked at her hands, "red-handed." Toriel said. She looked relieved, and the fire in her paws snuffed out. I grinned proudly at scaring her so badly that she made a pun. She seemed pleased at my joy, if a little fur-ruffled. "Listen young one, I have business to attend to. Please wait here, it is dangerous to explore the ruins by yourself. Oh, wait, I'll give you a cell phone. Please contact me if you need help." She reached into her bag and handed me an ancient looking flip-phone. I took it.

"Thanks." I said, and with a "You're welcome." Toriel went on ahead.

Well, it was just me and the frogs now. I looked around the room, my sense of adventure overriding any parental order. I went into the next room.

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A/N: Guest ROBIN I'm new to posting on this site so thanks for pointing out my horrendous formatting error!


	2. Chapter 2: Honey Combs

Chapter 2: Honeycombs

Instantly, I met a froggit.

We had a staredown, the silence between us only broken by its croaky breathing, neither us moving. As the frog finally opened its mouth my dinosaur phone vibrated and rang suddenly, making me automatically take it out. I kinda felt cool flipping open the phone, it was kinda like flicking out an assassin blade.

Always keeping my eyes on the frog, I slowly brought the phone to my ear and spoke, "Hello?"

"I hope you haven't left the room, there is a few puzzles ahead that I have not explained yet. It would be dangerous by yourself."

"Tori-"

"Be good, alright? I'll come get you soon, do not be afraid." She hung up on me. A spark of frustration shot through me at not being listened to, quickly fading at her promise.

"I'm not afraid of nothin... I work in a haunted house every year, for the goddess's sake... I don't even have any nightmares..." I grumbled to the froggit.

"Ribbit, ribbit." He replied, and for some odd reason my brain translated it into, " _Excuse me, strange human... Everyone is afraid of something. You may come across monsters whom wish to fight you. If you act a certain way, or beat them up enough, they may not want to fight you anymore. If that happens, please... show some mercy."_

"For only a couple of ribbits, you sure can say a lot..." I muttered, "I can't beat up nobody, really." I grinned, "But I'm an expert in pissing others off." I frowned, "It sounds rather counterproductive, really." I decided to trust that the talking froggit wouldn't attack me and passed him by, eyeing a pile of red leaves. I poked a leaf with my foot. With my wonderful luck I ended up being surrounded by three froggits who hopped out.

I did the rational thing and ran for my life, froggits hopping excitedly after me. I cursed my sense of adventure as I sprinted into a random hallway, hiding quickly behind a bowl of candy on a pedestal. I was the self-proclaimed master of keeping still and hiding my presence due to pretending I wasn't real, but those frogs has the audacity of knocking the bowl of candy onto my head and then knocking me into a pool of water nearby with a two-team effort. The bowl shattered on the wall behind me. The pool was shallow, and I sat up, spluttering and covered in candy and soaked to the bone.

"I'm gonna kill you all!" I shouted angrily, and they retreated back at the force of my voice. I stood up and stomped on the ground, trembling with anger and stomping towards the nearest froggit. It was frozen in place as the other two hopped quickly out of the room and my vision was practically red I was so annoyed.

Memories of a cowering cat, a crying child and yelping dog made me freeze, and I could see my uncaring younger self staring at them without pity. No... I needed to control my anger. I couldn't turn into THAT again.

I knelt by the giant frog and tried to offer it a piece of candy. "Leave me alone, okay? I don't wanna fight."

The froggit chomped on my entire hand, making me scream in surprise. I twitched as I restrained myself from throwing it into the wall nearby. I noticed with a sense of relief that the frog's mouth didn't have any teeth, and besides feeling like a disgustingly tight bracelet, I didn't feel any pain. I let go of the piece of candy and the froggit let go of my hand, glancing up at me one last time before hopping away. I looked at my hand and felt queasy with the amount of saliva oozing off it. I quickly swished my hand in the pool of water to get it off.

Standing up, I felt slightly beaten-up and soaked to the bone but well... I was still alive at least. I looked at the pieces of candy and started gathering up the mess, putting it on the pedestal cause the bowl was unusable. Kinda wet sweets, but it was just water. I took one as the pedestal instructed, exited the candy room and speed-walked through the room full of froggits. They didn't bother me, luckily.

I came across a place where a strip of unsteady ground greeted me. I tested it with my foot, and some magic force collapsed the ground and pulled me through.

"AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEE-OOF!" I landed in a pile of red leaves, blinking and then laughing because I was so relieved that spikes weren't waiting for me at the bottom. I wasn't sure what was and what was different from the game, and just freely throwing my trust into the game's strategy sounded like a death wish. I looked at the abundant strip of the giant leaf pile and laid on it, looking at the hole above. I was somewhat reminded of the room where I fell as I saw the single hole above in the distance. What happened if I did survive here? How did I 'save'? Did I have the power to 'save'? The only one who could answer that was Flowey, and he wasn't exactly trustworthy...

I froze when I heard croaking above me. In an impulse, I started digging through the red leaves and buried myself in them, with enough space for me to peek out. A rain of four frogs flopped into the leaves after me. They didn't see me this time, and I tense up and slowed my breathing until one got closer... and closer.

I burst out of the leaves and scream-growled at them, their croaks reaching a volume and pitch that could break glass and harmonizing with my outburst, scaring fairy-like Whimsuns from their hiding places into a near frenzy of trying to escape the room. I stepped out of the leaves as some Froggits and Whimsuns fell through their own trap in their hurry and watched the chaos with satisfaction, cackling. I ran out of there before they could find their bearings and get mad at me or something, getting sucked up into the other tube and deposited out onto the ground. I rolled on the ground and got to my feet, sprinting away to meet a rock puzzle in the next room.

My phone rang again as I panted like a happy yet tired dog. I took it out of my pocket and flipped it open, leaning on a wall and bringing it to my ear. "Hello~?" I sang.

"Hello? This is Toriel." Who else would it be? "For no reason in particular... Do you prefer butterscotch or cinnamon pie?"

"It depends..." I said thoughtfully, "If it's like a cinnamon roll, than it's pretty good. If it's like hot tamales, then... ugh. Sugar and spiciness do no go together. Butterscotch isn't something I have too often... I'll go with butterscotch!"

"Oh, I see, thank you!" Click.

"Oh... the almighty classic butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Will the flavors balance, I wonder? The sharp cinnamon and the buttery brittleness will be at war... but then converge into a kingdom of a lifetime. Hehe, maybe a metaphor for Asgore and Toriel?" I monologued to myself as I kicked and stomped the rocks onto the pressure-sensing platforms. _I'm really going off the deep end, aren't I?_

"Hey! Watch where you're kicking, you romanticist!" A rock protested, making me yelp and retreat away from it.

"Ah! Sorry!" I said. An awkward silence followed. "Um... could you please move onto the platform?"

"Eh... since you asked nicely." The rock moved about a foot away from the platform. Suddenly impatient, I quickly charged and kicked it into place before bolting across the spikes in a mad dash. The spikes almost stabbed through my foot on the other side and I yelped, hopping on one foot. I look at my shoe to find my shoes and sock had been cut through. My foot was bleeding, and the gravity of the situation hit me. I wasn't dreaming. I could die here. Finding myself desperate, I carefully took off my shoes and then took off my unbloodied sock. I wrapped into tightly around my injured foot. It was a bit of a deep scratch but manageable. I put my unmangled shoes back on my bare foot and carried my mangled shoe in my other hand. _This is karma for scaring everybody, isn't it?_

As I approached another place with unsteady-looking ground a black jello-like creature greeted me, wiggling around in a almost hypnotic fashion. I slowly wiggle-danced back with an uneasy grin despite the throbbing in my foot. There were these white spore-things that came out of the creature, which I avoided touching. Wiggling enough, the moldsmal accepted my presence and oozed away, leaving golden coins behind. I picked them up and put them into my pocket.

I faced the puzzle, coins jingling in my pocket, and within the first very light tap of my foot against the uneven ground I was sucked into a hole. The red leaves crunched below me as I yelped. I stood up using the wall as a support off my hurt foot, looked at the clue the paths between the leaf pathways gave me, and limped back up to the doorway to get sucked up a tube and deposited surprisingly gently on the floor.

With my bad foot in mind, I tried my best not to do any crazy stunts through the puzzles I came across. I was thankful for the leaf piles for breaking my falls in the pit mazes. I fled as many monsters as I could, I didn't feel too confident about confronting them with a hurt foot. There were these demonic carrots with faces trying to beat me up in the process of healing me when they saw my foot, but I managed to limp away in time. Some of these monsters were too nice for MY own good.

Munching on one of the glowing green carrots I managed to snatch out of the air to quell the monster's need to be devoured, I came across a napping ghost blocking my way.

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." He zizzed between his... teeth? Did ghosts have teeth?, "Zzzzzzzzzzzzz-"

"Gosh... that looks like a comfortable bedsheet." I drawled, and his Z's became more nervous as I moved closer, "I'm gonna lay on it~"

Napstablook sat up, blinking widely at me.

"... WHOAH IT'S NOT A BEDSHEET!" I exclaimed dramatically. The ghost jerked and started crying, the tears floating about. I shifted and backed up. "Sorry, man, I gotta get through. Shouldn't of yelled at you." I said sheepishly in a quieter voice, but yelped as the teardrops shot at me. I ducked and curled up, one of them hit my head and burned like acid for a few seconds, "Urgh, you look like a nice bedsheet... a cute one, with those big eyes and headphones and stuff uh..."

Napstablook didn't seem as tense as I rambled.

"not really feeling up to moving now, sorry..." He said in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Nuh uh, you can do it!" I said as I dodged more of his tears. They weren't moving very quickly, but I didn't like getting burned too much.

"eh... maybe..."

"Um... You like music, right?" I was not good at this, "I dunno if they exist but I could recommend some songs?" I took deep breaths as the ghost's tears continued to increase, those could kill me right? How much hp did I have left? "I... like this genre called electro-swing, have you heard of it?"

"not in... particular..." Napstablook said sheepishly as he lifted his head to look at me properly from the corner of my eye as I carefully shifted to avoid the tears, they weren't really aimed at me but I couldn't let my guard down. "what's it like...?"

"Kinda like old music, but with an-ouch-!" I winced as a teardrop hit my hand "... -uplifting beat." I was feeling tired after that hit, this couldn't good. "It really makes me wanna dance."

"i'm a fan of... scary-ambient-techno myself..." Napstablook didn't seem to be crying that much anymore, "i guess we are... opposite fans of music...?" He closed his eyes at my nod, ending the teary stream

"Techno-buddies?" I suggested.

"ah... maybe... I met such a nice person in the ruins today, usually this place is so empty... this spot is just so relaxing... ah, I'm rambling, i'll get out of your way." He faded away, along with his tears. I hobbled through the little corridor he had taken up, the leaves squishing and crunching underneath my feet. It did feel like a nice place to lay down... The idea of a nap safely hidden under leaves seemed like a better and better idea as a wave of tiredness swept over me as my adrenaline faded out. I forced myself to keep going, using the wall as support. There was... a merchant somewhere ahead right? Maybe if I ate something, I would feel better.

A crinkling in my pocket reminded me of the candy I took from before. I took out the colorful candy and pulled it open. The wrapper was stuck to the candy from it being wet. I limped down a random corridor as I worked it open, and help up a jolly-rancher-like circular candy to my eye. It was yellow. I wondered if this world was like that realm of the underworld where if you ate something, you would be stuck there forever. I don't remember such a concept in this game through my playthroughs, so I decided to carefully touch it with the tip of my tongue...

It tasted... lemony. I put the whole thing in my mouth and felt some of my energy ebbing back as I sucked on it. It wasn't too bad. Like lemonade.

The room I entered was covered in spiderwebs. I paused as I saw a bunch of movement, spiders were clearing the way so I wouldn't squish them. I went up to a web and watched a dozen spiders look back at me with a lot of black, beady eyes. They waved hello with one of their legs, and I waved back, smiling as I recognized doughnuts and cakes deep in the webs. This had to be the spider bake sale, right?

I walked deeper into the room and read the signs on the webs. 7 gold was the cheapest I could find, and I shifted around in my pocket to count out how much money I had... 8g. Running away from monsters most of the time didn't really add up a lot of money. I quietly admired Frisk's courage as I deposited the majority of my cash into a little web-pouch. The spiders went to work, a lot of them working together and carrying a doughtnut over to me. I took it as gently as I could. Some of the spiders stuck to the doughnut and had to jump off of it.

It looked like a doughtnut, if a bit sticky and spiderweb-y. I didn't have a place to put it, so I just carried it in my hand.

"Thanks, don't kill me later!" I said cheerfully, waving to the spiders and skipping out of the web-covered cave, shoe in one hand and doughnut in the other. I paused in the doorway when I realized my foot didn't hurt anymore. I looked down and saw a yellow... glow surrounding my foot. It tingled slightly. I sat down, and looked at my torn shoe... it was mending as well. I put the doughnut onto my head and untied my other sock. The sock was still bloody and sealed to my foot, but I watched with a morbid fascination as I saw my cells glowing with yellow light and stitching back together... like spiderwebs, or needles and thread.

"Game mechanics are still active, huh? Or maybe all food does this?" I muttered to myself, suddenly getting an idea from a manga I previously read, "Hmm... menu, open." ... Nothing happened. I tried to reach deep into my soul and bring out the secrets of 'Save' out into light. A glowing red heart floated out of my chest instead, and I blinked at it as I felt something akin to seeing my heart in the open but still pumping blood through my veins. This is my soul, right, um _... go up._ I thought, and it rose up. _Go down_ , I thought, and it obeyed me. ... _Do the Macarena._ The heart waved around wildly and spun around. I noticed some monsters looking at me rather attentively, whispering. I had a bad feeling about this. _Get back inside!_ The heart went back into my chest. ... _I need to have somebody teach me how to take less damage, the mechanics of this game is weird.._. I put my socks and shoes on, and since the doughnut was sticking firmly to my head I left it there. I could hear some words the monsters were ribbiting or gurgling, and my brain translated it into, "Did you see her soul?" "It's soul was colored?" "Why did she bring it out?" "Isn't that a human?"

"I am the d-doughtnut queen! All tr-tremble before m-my sugary wrath!" I announced to the monsters gathering at the other end of the corridor, flinging out my arms in a false bravado. Messing up the spiderwebs in a fight would mean Muffet would kill me later, probably. I was going to be dirt broke at the rate I was going. I strut towards them, and the majority backed off. "I-I am obviously not a human s-since I have the doughnut on my head to prove... it?" A blush formed on my face.

The monsters were transfixed by my crumbling display, giving me enough time to sprint the heck out of there into another corridor.

"If you're not a human, then why are you running away from us?!" A giant eye with horns and legs yelled, and to my horror I realized there was a stampede of monsters behind me.

"I AM VERY SHY LIKE NAPSTABLOOK!" I yelled, running past three sleeping frogs and finding another pit trap, "LOOK I CAN EVEN DISAPPEAR!" I slam dunked myself into uneven ground and fell with a scream as my body was yelling that falling such a distance was going to get me killed. I landed into a pile of red leaves and buried myself in them. Fully covered by leaves, I tried not the squeak as a mound of froggit fell in after me then hopped off. I held my breath and covered my face. I was dead, I was so dead, I was dead.

"You should really eat your veggies." A voice whispered in my ear, and I turned around to find myself face-to-face with a Vegetoid. _I was so dead!_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" I screamed, sitting up and finding myself surrounded by monsters, all of them cackling evilly at my expression, and I realized that this world did not anything slip by, I was going to have consequences for my every action. I was kinda stunned into silence.

"Y-you got me... You can l-l-l-let me go now..." My voice was getting softer and higher as I pleaded for mercy, "Pleeease?"

"You have leaves in your doughtnut." One of the Loox commented, and a ripple of croaky laughter echoed throughout the room. I forced my brain-hindered brain to think, and then a small hopeful smile formed on my face.

"If you don't leave me alone... I'm gonna call Toriel." I warned, taking out my flip phone and dialing her number as I spoke.

"Oh, hello? What is it, young one?" I heard her say, and at the sound of her voice the monsters froze and scrambled the heck out of there.

"Ahhhh, connections are nice." I said in blissful relief, crumpling onto the leaves besides a rock, before realizing Toriel was still on the phone, "Uh, hi Toriel, I was just calling to see what's up?"

"Oh... um, well, the house is a bit messy, so I need to clean up a bit. Didn't think I would have a guest so soon! You're still in that room I told you to stay in, right?

"..."

"Right?"

"Nope, I'm almost to your house. I think there's one more room after this."

"... Oh... please do be careful..."

"Yeah, I'll be home soon." I said casually. There was silence on the other end as she processed that. Wait... did I just call her house my home? I hung up as a blush rushed to my face, saying out loud, "No, wait, this isn't my home! My home's in another world... Ugh, I'm going to have dream-syndrome..."

I stood back up and found a lever, so I pulled it down. I heard a click. I let myself be sucked back up into the tube and was spat out onto the floor, which I rolled like a log to recover from.

The monsters mostly left me alone, which I was grateful for. I wondered if not becoming friends with them would put me on a neutral run. _Am I going to have to face that abomination of Flowey?_ Strange letters on a sign translated into english in my head, directing me to which switches I had to press as I became immersed in thought. _Why am I continuing like this? I should just have someone destroy my soul and then see if I respawn, and then I can get to the menu and quit. Maybe that'll get me back to my world. But what if I don't respawn? I don't want to die. I don't want to disappear..._

"You look stressed, friend!" A monster piped up, dancing towards me.

"I don't really wanna disappear when I die." I blurted out, and covered my mouth.

"We all disappear when we die! For now, let's dance, dance!" Misop retorted, dancing more insistently. I reluctantly bounced with it... him? I couldn't tell. "A cha cha cha!"

"Charmin..." I echoed at the end, it was too good of an opportunity to miss one of my inside jokes.

"I'm charming, I'm charming!" Misop sang with a huge grin on his bug-like face. He was ugly in looks, but...

"You're definitely charming!" I chuckled, bouncing with more enthusiasm. I looked ridiculous, but there wasn't any humans judging me around.

"If you're sad, just remember to dance dance, miss charmin'!" Misop laughed, frolicking away. I grinned at that and skipped away towards the last switch, patting it. With a click, I spotted a haze in the air in one of the corridors, and skipped towards it. Before my eyes, space shifted to reveal vividly green vines covering the ground. I stepped over them carefully, nearly tripping as one rolled underneath my foot. I found a pile of red leaves and basically frolicked through them, kicking them up and pretending I was in a windy field. No, I was the wind!

Eventually I got tired of my spinning. I picked up one of the pretty red leaves and headed towards a pitch-black dead tree that was absolutely surrounded by the red leaves. I wondered if it was hibernating, and if it grew red leaves... Seeing them fall would be a sight to behold. I stared and imagined the leaves falling like rain among the giant tree, the sunlight peeking from a hole in the ceiling making them shine and throwing sunbeams through the branches-

"Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would." Toriel's voice brought me out of my fantasy. I tiptoed through the leaves and hid behind the tree as she brought out her phone. She paused at the sound of crunching leaves, and looked around the tree. I suppressed any laughter as I tiptoe-crunched out of sight.

"Young one?" She called, walking after me. We circled the tree a couple of times. I couldn't help but start chuckling at this point, and held my breath as I approached Toriel from behind. She suddenly twisted around and said, "Boo!"

I yelped and backed off, only to trip over a tree root. I rolled back into a crouch, doughtnut sufficiently squished against my head and a bunch of leaves sticking to my head like a hat. I laughed, "You got me, you got me!"

"Are you hurt?" Toriel's amused look became worried.

"I'm good, I ate some candy." I replied, standing back up and touching my head with some amount of disgust as spiderwebs and leaves coated my hand.

"I shouldn't have left you alone for so long... how irresponsible of me. I just wanted to surprise you... Well, there's no use hiding it. Come!" Toriel lead me into her little purple house, and I paused when I saw something shining. Splitting away from her side for a moment, I crunched through the leaves to examine it. It looked like a glowing floating cartoon star. Hope surged in my chest. Was this a save point?! Maybe I could access the menu with it! I reached out and touched it. A warm feeling went through with me, I was going to go home! No matter what! To my true home! I felt myself glowing with what I could only call determination, invigorating my energy and taking any sores or aches away.

I took my hand away and stood up tall and proud, only to slump as I realized I saw no menu whatsoever.

"Hey, this was fun but I want to quit, little star thing." I said hopelessly. The star only shined blindly, "I got Frisk's ability... but I need the player ability." I quietly concluded, "Wherever I get that from..." I was going to hunt down that flower and shake him until he gave me some answers at this point.

Disheartened but somehow still feeling determined, I entered Toriel's home.

A/N:

Guest ROBIN: Yeah, thanks for being patient with me! ^-^

PenNinja1300: I'm having a lot of fun with this story; hopefully you WILL get to read more! :3


	3. Chapter 3: Warmth

Chapter 3: Warmth

Toriel's voice echoed to my ears as I closed the door behind me.

"Do you smell that?" I nodded, I was already salivating, "Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie." It wasn't really a surprise but it didn't make it any less awesome. A pie made by a goat! "I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here." I slumped slightly at that remark, but if Toriel noticed she didn't show it. I wasn't going to live here, was I? I had to fight her to leave... and I barely knew how to dodge... "I will hold off on snail pie, for now." I opened my mouth, I really wanted to try escargot, but Toriel was too excited to listen, practically vibrating in place, "Come, I have another surprise for you." I followed her down the hallway.

"What do snails taste like?" I finally got to ask.

"Oh, they are very creamy! They taste good with garlic and parsley butter. I did think humans were not used to eating them..."

"No, I haven't had one, I tried making a soup with them for my friend once but the store didn't sell any-" I said conversationally, but she stopped abruptly at a door and I walked into her, "-oomph."

"This is it, your very own room!" She announced happily, patting my head gently and having her paw stick in the doughnut-leaf mess on my head. She was actually a head taller than me, now that we were standing still for once. I looked away from the room door and up at her, her eyes were practically sparkling. I looked at the door again. _This is the room the six other humans stayed in before they were killed, right?_ I thought, my eye twitching at the fact that this sticky gunk was pulling at my hair and goat fur was probably added to the mess.

"T-?"

"I think something is... burning? Please make yourself at home! There's a sink in the kitchen if you need to use it!" Toriel rushed off. I followed after her, wishing I had eaten the doughnut sooner. Or had some kinda backpack. I found Toriel with large baking gloves taking out the pie from the oven and drool dripped down from my mouth to my dismay. Wiping away saliva quickly, I turned on the sink and attempted to scrub the sticky mess out.

"Do you need help?" Toriel asked, practically hovering around me.

"I'm good... thanks." I replied, taking some dishwashing soap and using it in my hair. Soap was soap, right? Chunks of leaves, doughnut and... spiders fell off of my head. The poor things were flailing about as they were washed down the drain. Toriel left me to my own devices and I spent a good hour getting all that gunk out with cold water. I looked up, and, finding no towel nearby, simply squeezed out the water from my hair. I stood up straight and rolled my shoulders, cracking my back. I shook out my hair like a wet dog and then stared at the pie.

"It has to cool young one!" Toriel called from another room, as if reading my mind. I grumbled and headed into the living room. "Oh, I have a towel if you need one." She said from her reading chair, holding up the cloth for me to see. "Here, let me dry your hair."

"Just toss it here, goat bro." I muttered, raising up my hands with a lazy smile. Toriel stood up and gently put the towel over the sides of my head, rubbing my head with her fingerpawtips through the towel. I dealt with it, seriously this goat took me in and let me use her sink and gave me my own room for free. And she used to be a queen. How lucky can Frisk get for a first meeting? Well, besides Flowey, but Flowey was kinda omnipotent so he didn't count.

She took the towel away from my now-somewhat messed up hair. "There, that's better. And you called me... goat bro?" She looked confused.

"I'm just bein'... topnotch, dawg." I said, giddy giggles going through me at my improvisation. Her confused look turned my inside-joke comedy mode off, "Nevermind, Toriel, sorry. I think I'm going a little weird in the head."

"Perhaps some sleep will help?" She suggested gently. I looked inwardly to see my tiredness levels were being kept at bay by that warm feeling I felt from the star before... Was this determination stuff some kind of drug?

"I'll try." I said, heading back towards the room. I opened the door to find a splendidly red room filled with... children's clothes and toys. I closed the door behind me and looked through the toy bin out of curiosity. I found a paddle with a ball stuck onto it, some building blocks, some figurines of monsters, and other stuff, but no pens or paper. I sighed before lying on what was apparently me bed and taking out my regular phone, my touchscreen one. I tried to turn it on, but it didn't work... must've died. I settled into daydreams as I watched the red ceiling, wondering what I was going to do next but finding myself too mentally tired to...

... I woke up from a blank dream to find the room's lights had turned off. A gentle smell wafted through the room and I looked to see a slice of pie on the ground. My first groggy thought was, _If you just leave it on the floor the dog or the cats will eat it_ before the memories of yesterday all came rushing back to me.

"... Am I stuck inside a dream?" I asked in a hopeful tone, but nobody responded. Sighing, I kicked off my sheets and made my way to the pie. It would be impossible to carry out of the ruins without ruining it, plus I was curious as to how it really tasted. I took the fork on the side and ate the crust first. The still warm dough melted in my mouth like ice cream, and I quickly wolfed down the rest of the pie at a speed that would certainly worry Toriel if she saw me. The filling almost made me cry; the butterscotch and the cinnamon tasted like white-chocolate covered cinnamon rolls.

"I need to make Toriel my cooking slave." I muttered, lying on the floor and contemplating what life was after being exposed such to a flavor. I was kidding, of course. I couldn't kidnap her without a tranquilizer gun.

The question of what I should do next came to me again. _Should I stay?_ I closed my eyes and frowned. _Toriel should have things for me to tinker with... papers and pens for me to draw and write on... I could make stuff out of leaves, I think. She is very kind, and the monsters in the ruins are kind fun to play with and scare... But my friends and family are worried about me, most likely... I miss them. My cats and my sketchbooks too..._ A surge of homesickness surged through me, confirming my thoughts, _But what if there's no way home? What was the point of trying to escape? Maybe I would meet other cool people... but what if I died and didn't revive again? It was dangerous out there..._ I sighed, poking at my plate and licking the crumbs off my finger _, But... there's an increased possibility I can get home... Think, Kai... the core. If theories about Gaster are right, maybe it's capable of interdimensional travel. Or Sans, since he breaks the fourth wall all the time he would know what's going on. It's that or trying to find Flowey... I need to get out of here before Toriel becomes more attached to me... She's tough but lonely._ I decided. I stood up with conviction and made my way to the door. _Okay, you can do this Kai, you got this._

I marched up to her reading room and, at the warm sight of her peacefully reading a book with such a sparkle in her eyes and the firelight flickering across her fur, my resolve deflated.

"Up already, I see?" She said with a smile, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't just have her do all these things for me and then just leave like she was a tool. I had to give something back. She seemed a bit awkward at my silence. "Um, I just want you to know how glad I am to have somebody here. There are so many books I wish to share... Bug-hunting spots to find... if there's something you wish to educate yourself about, I will gladly gather the materials to teach you. It may come as a surprise, but I've always wanted to become a teacher. Well, maybe that isn't too surprising; _still_ , I am happy to have you living here." Her every happy rambling world was continuing to make me guilty. I pressed my lips together. "Oh, did you want something...?"

"Um...!" I grit my teeth, shifting form foot to foot as my hands unconsciously folded behind my back formally.

"What is it?" She asked in such a gentle voice. No, she should be angry with me, I couldn't defend myself like this!

"Toriel?" I asked in a shaky voice, much opposite than the firm voice I had imagined, I was at the edge of tears, I felt like I truly was using her unless I did this, "What is one of your favorite things?"

"Why? Is something wrong?" Toriel looked worried.

"I wanna draw you a picture... do you have any paper and pencils?" I asked meekly, increasing her confusion.

"I do have some crayons and paper..." She closed her book, stood up and walked down the hallway. I followed her. She handed me a stack of old somewhat yellowed paper and broken crayons. "I can get new ones if you'd like." I took them.

"I'm fine with these." I went straight into my room and nudged the light switch with my shoulder. There wasn't a desk, so I lied on the floor and stared blankly at the sheet of paper. After some contemplation, I lightly pressed the crayon to the paper, becoming lost in a world of thought as I simply focused on how best to get my message. I hummed 'His Theme' as I did so.

With the power of 'Determination' flowing through my veins, I didn't really find any need to eat or sleep. I drew for a long time; by my internal clock it would probably be a good four or five hours. My crayons were mostly used up by the time I was done, and I laid out the pictures before me.

 _They can't replace company, but maybe they could light the way._ That was my hope when I finished the drawings. I was also a little annoyed that some of the lines and colors didn't look right... but crayons weren't what I used to drawing with. The eyes were freggin lopsided in a few places.

I carefully piled my hard work together and felt relatively at peace. I hadn't drawn so much for someone who wasn't my writing partner before. I walked out and headed towards the living room. I wasn't burning with resolve like before, just felt a numb acceptance of consequence.

"Toriel?" I called, and she looked up from her book, surprised.

"Yes, young one? Oh, this book is interesting; it is about 72 uses for snails. Did you want to hear one?"

"I need to leave, ma'am." I said softly, hiding the pictures behind my back.

A slightly frown formed on her face. "You are welcome to traverse the ruins if you are careful, young one..."

"I need to exit the ruins." I said, watching her carefully.

"... I need to do something. Wait here." Toriel stood up and quickly rushed out of the room. I sighed and set my drawings on the table nearby, sealing my fate. She could _not_ see the drawings and I in the same room. I quickly ran after her, down the stairs, into a purple-bricked corridor.

"You wanted to exit the ruins, did you not?" She stood in the way and did not look at me. Perhaps she was psyching herself up to hurt me in order to protect me. I felt a displacement as I felt like Frisk and myself at the same time, and I had to remind myself that whatever she throws at me was very real, and it would hurt. I gritted my teeth and continued forward, hands clenching at my sides. If I ran away now... Toriel might really trap us both in here. Infinite time before an event did not exist in real life, right...? "Ahead lies the exit to the ruins to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it." She looked back at me with kind, sad eyes, "Go back upstairs."

I met her gaze and did nothing else but wait until she broke away from my eyes. I had to... break her resolve. Even if I was weak. I followed her.

"Every human that comes down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come, they leave. They die." She said, her voice starting to lose her warm tone, "Young one, if you leave the ruins, they... Asgore will kill you."

 _I know, Toriel... But Asgore isn't the one I truly have to worry about, is it?_ I thought, but kept those words to myself. No need to have her think I was crazy. It was so weird being a player and being in Frisk's shoes at the same time. I took deep breaths to calm myself, stretching out my arms as I walked and listened politely to Toriel warn and threaten me.

"I am only protecting you, you understand?"

"... I understand, Toriel, I'm sorry I got so close to you." I said softly, and she flinched at my words. I meant them. I should've broke the game and treated her harshly. I should've just refused her hand. This would be so much easier if I did... For both of us. I kind of understood what Flowey was getting at when he said that kindness only hurt people.

"... Go to your room." She said sternly, walking faster. I broke into a jog behind her, she wasn't escaping me this time. "Do not try to stop me." Her voice was colder, "This is your final warning." I followed as quietly as I could anyway, my heart rate accelerating.

We stopped at purple double doors.

"You really want to leave so badly? Hmph... You are just like the others, no matter how big you are. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself..." She turned to me, her previously motherly eyes settled in a queenly glare that sent pinpricks through my heart, "Prove that you are strong enough to survive."

I controlled my breathing and settled into a ready akido stance, my body tilted to the side, my back foot horizontal and my front foot horizontal, my hands tucked against my chest. Not the strongest stance, but I was only a white belt. Despite the obvious power difference, a challenging glare settled on my face as well. Uh... I obviously didn't want to kill her.

She waved her hands, and I screamed as a bunch of fireballs flew towards me, running away from them. They bounced unpredictably off the walls in random directions, and I yelped as a one hit my shoulder. I looked up to Toriel, "I-I don't want to fight you! Stop this!" I pleaded, my false bravado crumbling. She said nothing, only paused to see if I would attack. I made no move to do so, standing there and lightly touching my smoking black sweater. She pointed her fingers out towards me, and fireballs crisscrossed in every which way direction. My adrenaline went into overdrive as I sidestepped and slipped and growled at the fireballs that hit me, feeling Frisk's power make it so I couldn't strain any muscles as I jumped to greater heights than I ever had and made my ankles twist in almost spraining ways at sudden changes in direction. "Stop this please! I don't want to fight, Toriel!" I pleaded again, my sweater now more of a tank top and my pants sporting giant holes. My shoes sizzled against the hot ground as fire magic residue built up into this room. Toriel paused again, obviously giving me an opening to attack her, and I spoke again, "Please, Toriel... My drawings aren't worth anything if you're not there to see them." Tears prickled at the edges of my vision as she looked away from my face, her hands still extended, but if I cried now I wouldn't be able to see the fireballs, I would die, I could already feel myself feeling really tired... Toriel casted another attack, but it was more of orbs of glowing light that surrounded us and slowly shrank, casting the purple room in an orange light. She waited for me to attack. She was leaving herself wide open. I stood and walked up to her, and she stepped back. I paused and smiled a bit, "I-I didn't even bring a-any freggin weapons, haha..." Toriel had to spread her hands apart to avoid hitting me with the fireballs as I walked closer. I wasn't doing so well, I could feel myself nodding off, kinda like I did in math class.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking almost startled that I was simply standing there. I took a chance and completely faced away from her, admiring the little orbs of light as I shook with adrenaline pulsing through me.

"Y-Y-your fire is pr-pretty. Like fireflies. ...Ahaha, g-get it, fireflies..."

"Attack or run away!" Toriel snapped, and I looked at her, forcing myself to walk closer to the fiery goat. "What are you proving this way?!"

I stopped a foot away and said in a voice clearer than I felt it should, "I... don't want to fight you."

"Fight me or leave!" She ordered, backing off as her fists erupted into flame. Like a firebubble blower, the number of orbs floating around us increased. I would really have a hard time running away even if I tried... I simply stood there, watching Toriel drive herself crazy with guilt. I pressed my lips together, I hated seeing her unhappy... but I needed to go home. There wasn't enough opportunity for me here.

"Stop it!" She barked at me, which was funny because I wasn't technically doing anything except cautiously watch the fireballs and fight the darkness creeping at the edges of my vision. I looked up at her, my weakness apparent in my slow blinks. I seriously felt like I was going to faint. She would never let me leave if I did. "Don't look at me in that way..." She said softly.

"You've beating me up like a dummy, Toriel... " I said with a grin, before laughing to cover up my soul-wrenching fear, "Hehe, stop this. I really don't want to die..." _Goats are stubborn._

"Just go away then!" She said, her orbs increasing in size. I shook my head, frowning and crossing my arms. _Two can play at the stubborn game, even if I had maybe 3 or maybe only one hitpoint-no, don't think about that, focus._

A silence except for flickering flames and cracking superheated stone, the heat increasing until we were both sweating. It felt like we were in an oven.

"I know you wish to leave but... I need to protect you. Please, we can have a good life here." Her flames flickered out of her hands as she smiled at me with broken hopefulness.

"I don't belong here, Toriel." I said softly, "I have a family already. I have an entire world apart from yours. Please... just let me try to get back to it."

"... Pathetic, is it not... I cannot save even a single young human." Toriel said with a sad smile. It quickly faded from her face. "I am just... trapping you here, then. There is no possibility you will be happy with me...?"

"I'm an artist, Toriel, I want to change the world, not hide from it." I said with certainty, before blushing at my cheesy choice of words, "Uh..."

"My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For you, my child, I will set them aside." She said, the orbs around us fading into a sudden near-darkness since all glowing purple moss was burned away. I felt so important that she was throwing away so much for me... She faced me with hands folded in front of her, a sad glow in her eyes vaguely spotted within the darkness. "If you truly wish to leave the ruins, I will not stop you. But if you do leave, please do not come back." My eyes widened as I realized this was a true goodbye. "I hope you understand." Warm, furry arms embraced me, and green healing light covered my body, healing my wounds and clothes and illuminating the room. I hugged back and let tears fall out of my eyes and onto her shoulder. This entity was kind to me, so I was sad to see her go, no matter if she was real or not... It was as simple as that.

"Bye, Tori." I mumbled into her apron. It smelled like pie crust and her specific, sweet goat smell. I don't think I'll ever forget it.

"Goodbye, my child." She said, letting me go. She walked away, leaving me feeling colder than ever. I looked to the purple doors and forced myself to walk towards them. As I touched the doors, I remembered something.

"Tori-" My voice stuck in my throat as I found I was alone. _Ah... well... She'll find the pictures... Shoot, I forgot to sign them... Oh well, here I go._

I opened the door and a wintery wind beckoned me into the cold world beyond.

A/N: PenNinja1300 Thanks for the praise!


	4. Chapter 4: Chattering Teeth

Chapter 4: Chattering Teeth

The door swung shut behind me as I cautiously stepped outside. I couldn't remember all parts of the game too clearly so I wasn't really expecting the long purple corridor. It was brighter at the end, though. Hating to be stuck in hallways, I sped up my pace into a jog. The temperature was steadily getting lower. The light at the end was flickering, into a place that was much darker. It didn't quite make sense since it seemed to be brighter around me... I cautiously went through the doorway.

I was in a pitch-black room, where a familiar voice spoke immediately as I entered.

"Clever. Verrry Clever. You think you're really smart, don't you?" Flowey spoke with a sneaky look. I blinked at him, crouching down to his level. I had questions to ask him, but I wasn't sure how to ask him. "In this world, it's kill or be killed. So you played by your own rules." His face morphed into a fanged grin. "You spared the life of a single person. Hee hee hee. I bet you feel really great." He mocked, "You didn't kill anybody this time. You even drew her a picture!"

"Flowey?" I asked, and he was caught off guard by my gentle tone enough to pause, "I'm not Chara... I'm the player. What you call the Watcher. Do you know how I can quit?"

A completely blank look crossed Flowey's face. "Hmm..." He smiled and said, "If you really are the one sitting back and watching us like we're a television, then it's even more reason for you to go through the timeline, idiot. I'm not telling~!"

My head sank, before I raised it up again. _It was worth a try._

"Can you continue sparing lives? What if you meet a relentless killer?"

"I'll run away." I shrugged.

"Hm? Don't you remember those you had to fight before? Oh, sorry, _watch_ Chara fight before."

"My goal isn't to get through the barrier. It's to quit the game... or this world. Undertale." I quickly realized I was rambling.

"You will be constantly hunted... You'll see there's no other choice but to fight. And then, when you give up on the world, _I'll_ inherit it. I am the prince of this world-"

"Yeah, I've heard your spheal before, regicide and all that." I interrupted rudely, feeling bitter that he wasn't giving me answers.

"Will you quit that?" He snapped, "My plan isn't just regicide, it's much more greater than that..."

"By the way, if you convince me to go through the timeline killing everyone, I'll kill you too you know." I warned for no other reason than to get under his stem.

"You're wouldn't do that." Flowey said with a glare, "Well, with as weak as you are it shouldn't be long until you give up, crybaby." He ducked back underground.

I stared blankly at the illuminated spot of grass he was in _. I do cry a lot, didn't I? Eh, he's a bully, don't listen to him._

I stood up and walked up to a doorway, reaching blindly to touch something solid. A door. I pushed it open and white light blinded me. A cold air instantly made me shiver and want to retreat back. I refused, and closed the door behind me. My breath came out in steamy puffs and I suddenly felt all the sweat on my skin start to get colder. I leaned against the door and assessed the area. There was a thicket of trees around me, and a snow-covered pathway in front of me. The sky was white... and it was snowing in huge, thick flakes. I coughed a bit from the frigid air and started stepping through the snow. Maybe Sans would have some answers for me... that is, if he didn't blame me like Flowey did.

"Oh, snickerdoodles." I growled out loud as the cold sank into my skin like ice fangs, making my hairs stand on end. It didn't help that I was still covered in a layer of sweat. I walked a bit faster. _Cold and heat are similar in that if they are too extreme, they would burn, and although I'm not quite close to burning yet my body was sending me signals similar to the ones I get a millisecond before touching something very hot. Like a frying pan._ I observed as I folded my hands against my stomach and leaned into the wind. I found a large stick blocking the pathway, and stepped over it. _Out of the fire and into the frying pan._ I chuckled at my own joke.

 **Crack!** I yelped and spun towards the noise, eyes wide. The branch was snapped in two for some reason. I realized that was normal, and wondered if I broke some kinda magic barrier by stepping over that stick. Was Sans messing with me? I increased my pace, eyes focused on a stone structure in the distance through the fog of falling snowflakes. For a few seconds, all I can hear were my own footsteps and even, steady breaths. I was so cold that there wasn't steam coming out of me anymore. I heard crunches in the snow behind me, and glanced back. Nobody. Not even a footprint. I frowned and kept going, what was I going to say to Sans if I saw him? Should I call out to him now?

"S..." My voice died in my throat, he wouldn't trust me if I said that right? I needed to... gently break it to him? I didn't realize I was at the edge of the bridge until I suddenly collapsed to my knees, my fingers gripping the wood with a death grip. I shook with a mixture of adrenaline and cold as the black abyss below the wooden bridge seemed to grow and call out to me, almost pull me towards it, like a twisted desire to fly. "Whoah, I'm over this fear... even if there is no r-r-railings to hold onto. Just gotta cr-"

"Human." A low voice drawled directly behind me.

"Eeep!" I spun around and my numb hand ended up slipping on the edge of the bridge. I kicked out as I fell to the side, and a hand grabbed the shoulder of my shirt, pulling me back upright.

"Whoah, careful there kiddo." I looked up. The sight of a skull with glowing-pinprick eyes combined with my now-rational fear of heights made adrenaline pulse through my heart like some kind of spear, and Sans neatly sidestepped as I almost knocked him over in my haste of getting away from the icy bridge. My numb limbs wouldn't obey me quickly enough, and I faceplanted into the snow. I tilted my head to breathe and lay there for a few moments, trying to calm myself down. "Hey, kid." I felt a shadow cast over me, "Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Sit up and shake my hand."

I sat up and wiped the snow from my face. I blinked up at Sans, trying to get used to his very... animated appearance. I looked quizzically at the gloved hand he outstretched, and then grabbed his hand. It was surprisingly warm. As I focused on curling my nearly nonresponsive fingers he tightened his grip.

 **Thurrrrrrrrrrrrrrp!** A giant fart penetrated the tension, leaving a silence after it. The whoopee cushion was in his glove. Of course.

"Hehehe, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It's _always_ funny." Sans said in a lighter tone, taking his hand away and putting it back into his coat pocket.

"I-is your s-sentry st-stat-station warmer th-than h-here?" I chattered out.

"Not at all. You'll probably want to go to Snowdin, to the east. You're a human, right?" He asked. I nodded and got back to my feet. I wished determination could act as a personal heater... "That's hilarious. My names Sans. Sans the skeleton. I'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now, but... y'know... I don't really care about capturing anybody. Now my brother, Papyrus..."

"Do you have like, a spare jacket I could borrow? Or a small fire?" I interrupted as I rubbed my arms and hunched over slightly.

"My jackets wouldn't fit you." Sans said, "I _could_ help ya build a fire, but I think I see my brother... come on, I have an idea." He walked towards the bridge at a fast pace, and I followed him until the edge. I looked at his sneakers on the bridge for comfort before I forced myself to run across the bridge. I grabbed my chest as my heart accelerated almost painfully fast, eyes wide. "Quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp." I looked to my left and saw a lamp, which was taller and wider than it usually was. I scrambled behind it. I took deep breaths to calm myself down, the lampshade moving a bit as I leaned my head against it. "Sup, bro?" Sans called.

"YOU KNOW WHAT'S 'SUP', BROTHER. IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES. YOU JUST HANG OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! I _JUST_ SAW YOU GOOFING OFF WITH SOMEBODY!" Papyrus's voice was loud and would probably trigger an avalanche.

"What? I was just telling a few jokes to this lamp. It's pretty fun. Did you want to join?"

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE?! I WANT TO BE READY! NOT CHATTING WITH A LAMP! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!"

I slowly leaned against the lamp, feeling it was actually very hot for some reason, and I was cold enough to not realize I was putting too much weight onto it until we were both falling.

"THEN I THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE!"

I stomped my foot into the ground to anchor myself from falling and glimpsed Papyrus with his bright orange cape fluttering in the nonexistent wind.

"RESPECT... RECOGNITION... I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD!"

I backed up to pull the lamp up with me, only to realize it was heavier than I thought. I lost my footing and slipped over it with my legs flailing in the air.

"PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO BE MY, 'FRIEND?'" Papyrus was too deep in his monologue-ing to notice me right away. I gave up on trying to pick up the lamp and laid beside it. I stuck my head in the lampshade. "I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING."

"Hmm... maybe this lamp will help you." Sans said despite my predicament.

"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING!" I covered my mouth to muffle my snickers until I realized the lamp was cracking for some reason. I quickly remembered the incident where a woman pours hot water to get ice off her windshield and the glass shattered. Shoot. It was crumbling under my hands... "YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AROUND AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

"Hey, take it easy. I've got a ton of work done today." Sans paused for dramatic effect, "... A skele- _ton_." I could almost hear him winking. I quickly decided hiding around broken glass was a bad idea and put the lampshade on my head, standing up.

"SANS!" Papyrus shouted indignantly. I peeked from under the lampshade and tiptoed over to San's station to hide.

"Come on. You're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT! EVEN THAT LAMP IS TRYING TO ESCAPE YOUR BAD JOKES!" I froze and put the lampshade fully over my head. Papyrus sighed heavily. "WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME... HAVE TO DO SO MUCH TO GET SOME RECOGNITION..." I carefully peeked back out and then tiptoed behind Sans's station.

"Wow, it sounds like you're really working yourself... _down to the bone_." Sans grinned with his eyes.

"UGH! LOOK, YOU MADE EVEN THE LAMP LEAVE! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES! AS FOR YOUR WORK, PUT A LITTLE MORE... ' _BACKBONE_ ' INTO IT." Papyrus's voice strained slightly at that pun, as if it was physically hurting him to say that, "NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" I heard footsteps walk off into the distance, and as I slowly crept out of my hiding spot I heard another, "HEH!" that made me nearly jump out of my skin. I quickly hid again.

"Ok. You can come out now." Sans said. I stepped out and walked towards him, taking off my lampshade. "Nice hat. You oughta get going, my brother might be..." I reached up and gently put the lampshade on his head. His skull was too wide for it, but it managed to stay on his head. He seemed a bit befuddled by my action, but kept it on his head for the time being.

"Fire." I reminded him with a small smile.

"Oh, yeah. I'll make some up ahead, just get going and follow the path." He took the lampshade and tossed it by the lamp shards. I nodded and turned away. "Actually, hate to bother ya, but do you mind doing me a favor? My brother's been down recently, and I think seeing a human might make his day. Don't worry, he's harmless, even if he tries not to be." I looked back and gave him a thumbs up, "Thanks a million. I'll be up ahead."

I looked away, relieved that I would get some fire. Eventually. Just had to keep going. I found myself wishing Toriel was here, but quickly shook that off. No. I had to prove I could handle myself just fine. I treaded through the snow, and ahead I saw a glowing golden star. I walked towards it and touched it. I felt myself rejuvenated, as if I had a full nights sleep and a huge meal. Knowing I would face the bone brothers ahead filled me with determination! I was the master of comebacks when it was a good opportunity for comebacks!

 _This stuff has got to be some kind of drug. I've only eaten a slice of pie and piece of candy, and I don't feel any thirst after sweating so much._ I thought, quickly bringing myself down into reality. I kept walking across the path, my teeth chattering with the intensity of my shivers. _I still gotta ask Sans about exiting the game, well, world... darnit... well, I think their puzzles might be fun, so-_

A long, blue and white dragonlike creature suddenly leaped in in front of me, and I yelped and backed off. Its frills and face was akin to a snowflake, and watched me with wide eyes.

 _I changed my mind, I want to get out of here now!_ I thought, making a run for it away from him.

"I got my 'ice' on you!" The snowdrake yelled, galloping in front of me and cutting off my escape. He sort of reminded me of a chinese dragon, except with a frostier appearance and worse puns. The air distorted and he tossed his head, throwing air blades at me. I dived and rolled in the snow, my heart rate accelerating as arms went up to reflexively protect my head. I stood up and backed off. I noticed he was waiting for something, did he want me to attack him or something? My back hit a tree, and I gulped.

"I was thinking... it was more of air...?" I said nervously.

"No! Don't you get it?! Eyes?! Ice?! I'll have you in a vICE grip!" The snowdrake snarled, and shook his body wildly. Giant air blades cut through the snow and I couldn't see them through the frost, so in desperation I ran away and jumped, easily clearing a few yards. A stray wind blade headed towards me, and I braced myself.

"Ugh!" I groaned as it sliced my arm. I landed and nearly slipped. "Haha v-vice grip ice funny." I said quickly.

"See, dad! I got laughs!" The snowdrake hopped around in glee, generating air blades that went completely over my head, like the majority of his jokes.

"Keep practicing, you'll get even better..." I encouraged weakly as I casually tried to step away. Snowdrake nodded enthusiastically and pranced off into the field. I sighed in relief and looked at my bleeding arm. My sleeve was pretty much torn off, so I ripped the few threads holding it to my torso and wrapped the sleeve around my shoulder using my hands and teeth, plodding through the snow. "I am very warm~" I sang off-key to lift my spirits, "I will get home soon~, Flowey is a stupid jerk~" I heard a hiss that was quickly muffled somewhere behind me and grinned.

I heard arguing up ahead, and paused my rambling notes to see skeletons shouting in the distance. I waved to them, and Papyrus looked to Sans, who looked at me, and then Papyrus looked back to me, where Sans also looked back to Papyrus, and I looked to Papyrus. Sadly, I wasn't Papyrus, but if he stopped using anime-scented body wash and switched to Old Spi- Oh, he was whispering something to Sans. I looked back and saw a giant rock that I hadn't noticed before, and stepped back towards it, climbing and standing on top of it with pride, my sleeve-bandage fluttering in the wind.

"I'M GONNA BE SO POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!" Papyrus was grinning his skull off as his voice heightened in its excitement. He turned towards me and cleared his throat, his face settling into a determined frown even I could see at this distance. "HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THROUGH THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! AND YOU WILL GET SENT TO THE CAPITAL! AND THEN... WELL, I'MNOTSUREWHATHAPPENSNEXT. IN ANY CASE, CONTINUE ONLY IF YOU DARE!"

" _I A-ACCEPT YOUR CH-CH-CH-CHALLENGE!"_ I shouted back, shivering a bit. I was really cold. Did I mention that?

"YOU WON'T WIN! I CAN SEE YOU TREMBLING WITH FEAR! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus marched off.

"Don't sweat it kid, I'll keep an eyesocket out for ya." Sans said with a left-eyed wink.

"Remember the fire!" I called after him.

"Yeah, it'll be by the golf game." He waved and disappeared into the frosty mist after Papyrus like some kind of cool kid. I got off the rock with a skip in my step.

"Dad! This was the one who said my jokes were funny!" I heard the snowdrake's voice behind me and ran full speed ahead.

A/N: I'm sorry for my horrible jokes. Just kidding. My jokes are awesome.

I feel like I ripped too much dialogue from the game but uh... I'm new with playing these characters and they'll get more of offgame dialogue eventually. Yeah. That'll be my goal!

Guest: Ah, thanks very much for the praise. Please don't die, I'm gonna go to jail if you do that.

Boomerpyro: I am not familiar with the bun-bun joke... Do you mean the rabbit or the cinnamon roll?

AnimeVamp1997: Hehe~ I think I'll get a lot of practice with fighting scenes in this story. I'm trying my best to describe her, well, me, as realistic as possible.


	5. Chapter 5: Snow Dust

Chapter 5: Snow Dust

In order to escape the much-faster snowdrakes galloping after me in the distance, I leaped farther than I've ever leaped into a gap in the thicket of trees around the pathway. I let myself bump into a tree absorb the force of the jump before getting into a crouch and crawled underneath some snow-covered branches. My hands hurt from touching the snow so much without gloves, and I blew on them, rubbing them together. The stampede of a single excited snowdrake passed by, followed by a slightly larger blue snowdrake wearing pink blush, a pink bowtie and pink shoes and a... chilldrake wearing giant sunglasses that trotted by leisurely. For some odd reason, when I looked to a monster I instantly knew their name. Chilldrake stopped and looked around suspiciously, letting the dad snowdrake pass him. I stopped breathing.

"Bro! These footprints end right here!" He shouted. The other snowdrake was out of hearing distance, but the dad-snowdrake turned around. "Psh, I'm not talking to you, adult authority!" Chilldrake sighed and shook his head, before walking and looking in-between the trees on the other side. Dad-snowdrake shrugged and walked onwards. I gulped, hunched over into the darkest shadows of the branches, and stayed as still as I could. The sunglasses on the sno-chilldrake's face flashed as he looked closely at my spot, and then paused. I found I had no other choice.

"GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed in his face, and the chilldrake screeched and fell over himself trying to scramble back. I resisted my urge to laugh as I ran as fast as I could, as close as the trees as possible, weaving in and out of a few stray ones on the pathway. As a result, the duo-snowdrake stampede completely passed me.

"The human just past you! After it!" Chilldrake roared in anger. The three snowdrakes all thundered towards me at a speed I could not hope to outrun, my lungs burned from the wintery air, and I kept losing my footing on the icy and rocky ground. The only good outcome to all this was that I might be a little warmer from running so much.

"DON'T MOVE!" A dog named Doggo suddenly howled in out pathway, taking out his daggers and glaring at all of us. I think we were going to ignore him until Doggo's daggers became encased in blue energy that was ten times their size. We all skidded to a stop, a snowdrake's snout bumping into my back and making me fall over. Doggo looked very irritated at the flailing bodies and slashed at us multiple times, leaving no room to dodge. The snowdrake froze mid-position so I did the same. The blue energy of the blades swept and... passed through us, leaving me with a sensation akin to seeing someone slashed but not getting slashed myself. Doggo watched us with shifty eyes, walking closer. I made a break for it, keeping an eye on the blades and skidding to a stop when Doggo looked directly at me. He slashed at me, and I reflexively closed my eyes as the blades went through me. Blue attacks were harmless but... very unsettling. Doggo walked closer, but didn't meet my eyes, he couldn't see me it seemed. I reached up and pet his ears. Doggo freaked out and started barking wildly, "A ARM CAME OUTTA NOWHERE AND PET ME?! PET?! POT?! PET?!" He slashed at my arm with the blue blade energy, and I blinked as it went through my head. Oddly, I could still move in a blue attack, but only a little. I decided it wouldn't be a good idea to test its boundaries. "I-I'm gonna need some dog treats for this!" Doggo barked, jumping into his sentry box. I sighed in relief.

"I could take that dog! Psh!" Chilldrake boasted, shaking himself out.

"No, I think this has gone far enough! We should just leave the human to the guards. They're dangerous, aren't they?" Dad-snowdrake countered.

"No way! They laughed at my jokes! They didn't attack me at all! You snow nothin', dad!" Teen-snowdrake protested.

"Psst! Let's ditch your dad!" Chilldrake whispered loudly.

"Hey... I heard that!"

I in the meantime was casually walking onwards, leaving them to argue. I saw something smoking and the odd smell of burning dog treats hit my nostrils. It kinda reminded me of burning bread. I coughed a bit and waved the smoke away. There were some muffled wumps and I looked back to see the drakes wrestling in the snow. I snickered until someone bumped into me. Bright pink ice caught my eye and I looked, blinking, to a small snowman with a huge head and an even larger pink-iceberg cap. He smirked proudly as I stepped away from him.

"Uh, hi." I said, and looked away from him to keep going.

"Uh, HELLO. My hat's over here!" Ice cap snapped, and I felt the snow shift under me, rising up. I quickly jumped off it as it shot out spikes, only to land on another rising snow mound. The higher it rose, the icier it became, and I ended up slipping and basically crawling and frog-jumping from snow mound to snow mound, away from Ice Cap. Some of the mounds crossed over, and I landed too close to an upraised one. "Fine! I'll ignore you too." That comment from Ice Cap actually brought my guard down, and ice spikes stabbed my hands and fingers and would've gone through my head if I didn't rear back. I rolled back from that and shook my hands. The cold numbed the pain, but having hands quickly covered in my own blood was not a good time. Out of range of the mounds attack, I vaguely saw ice cap turned away from me and my hands leave red prints in the snow before I sprinted away from that monster.

I didn't see anyone chasing me, but I ran and ran until I saw a familiar face. Sans. I stopped running and almost put my hands on my knees until a pinching pain told me that was a bad idea. I ended up walking over to him, looking at the damage on my hands with a weird fascination. I swear I would see a little white through the red, and I couldn't move some of them... welp. I licked some of the lighter stab wounds out of habit, and spat on the snow because it tasted bad.

Sans spoke when I stopped in front of him and looked at him, "Hey, here's something important to remember. My brother has a very special attack. If you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you. Here's an easy way to remember it. If you see a stop sign, you stop, right?"

"Hey Sans, I gotta talk to you about something else." I said in between the natural pause after a question.

"Sorry, Kid, I don't have any food on me." He glanced briefly at my hands.

"Uh, no, I mean... Thanks for the explanation, but uh... Do you um, know how to qui-"

"THERE'S THE HUMAN!"

"THERE'S _SNOW_ DITCHING THE BEST SNOWDRAKE COMEDIAN!"

I yelped and looked behind me to see a cloud of snow dust in the distance, along with two angry drakes.

"Tell me about it later." I looked towards where Sans spoke to see that he had disappeared. I cursed under my breath and ran off the main pathway around the edges of a frozen pond. Eventually, the cloud dust past behind me as the two drakes yelped and skid on the ice. I came across a clearing with a single snowman and hid behind it.

"Hello." The snowman said, and I yelped before I covered my mouth, "I am a snowman."

"Um, you want to see the world, right?" I whispered, "Can I take your carrot?"

"As long as you bring it far away, traveller." The snowman said softly. I peeked over his shoulder. The dad-snowdrake was scolding the drakes in the distance. Dad-snowdrake took teen-snowdrake by the frill and pulled him off, leaving a sulking Chilldrake following behind them. I then took off the snowman's nose with my scab-y hands. "Thank you, good luck!" The snowman chimed in.

"I promise I won't eat you." I muttered. Maybe I'll just give it to Sans once he tells me how to quit, and then he'll have Papyrus give it back or something. Well... _if_ Sans tells me how to quit. I couldn't get my pockets to open with such numb and injured fingers, so I reluctantly shoved the frozen carrot into my shirt and walked onwards. How long away was the golf course, anyway? I had forgotten the map of the place... Ahead, I could hear the bone brothers arguing.

"YOU'RE SO LAZY! YOU'VE BEEN NAPPING ALL NIGHT!"

"I think that's called... sleeping."

"EXCUSES, EXCUSES!"

I licked my hands some more in a pathetic attempt to defrost/clean/heal them as Papyrus noticed me. There was a clearing of snow, revealing a square clearing of rock underneath with a light dusting from the snowfall.

"OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE... QUITE _SHOCKING!_ FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE... _ELECTRICITY MAZE!"_ His voice was so loud and proudly amused that it was shaking the snow off of the trees behind me.

"OH SHOOT!" I yelled back to encourage him. I felt a bit dizzy from that shout. Or maybe from the blood loss. I shook my head to clear it.

"NYEHEH! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP!" He brought the orb out, "SOUND LIKE FUN? BECAUSE, THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE," He paused, one fist in the air to make a point, "ISACTUALLYRATHERSMALLITHINK. OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW." He lowered his arms and watched me expectantly

I eyed my audience, before a smirk grew on my face. I went up the edge of the maze. "HEY PAPYRUS, THE WEATHER'S GONNA GET STORMY TONIGHT!"

"WHAT DID YOU M-" I swung my arm out _,_ and the orb in his glove burst into action, shocking him instead. _ZZZZZZAP!_

"High chance of lightning." I said cheekily, stepping away from the maze. I burst into laughter at Papyrus's shocked and scorched form.

"S-SANS! WHAT DID THE HUMAN DO?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Papyrus yelled as he shook off the carbon.

"I think the human has to hold the orb." Sans said casually, giving me a subtle thumbs up.

"OH, OKAY." Papyrus walked through the maze, shouting at me, "QUIT LAUGHING, HUMAN!" I couldn't stop, I had the giggles, there were tears coming out of my eyes at my own joke. _I am never going to be a comedian if I am this amused with myself. Or maybe I'm just going crazy._ That thought did seem to calm me down somehow as Papyrus approached me. "HOLD THIS, PLEASE!" He tossed the orb and I caught it in my hands, wincing as the action broke some scabs. I immediately hugged it because it was still warm, holding it in place with my wrists Papyrus speed-walked through his maze and once he got to the other side he called, "OKAY, YOU CAN START NOW."

I followed his footprints through the maze like I've done many times before. Well, like Frisk did. I approached the skeleton brothers, and Papyrus pointed at me accusingly.

"YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY... TOO EASILY! HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE SO EASY! IT WAS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS. YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM." Papyrus moonwalked backwards back out of sight with great force, creating a gust of wind. I blinked at his speed and kind of felt nervous about fighting the guy. He was harmless, I knew, but I didn't really like getting beaten up.

"Hey, thanks... my brother seems like he's having fun. That was rather tricky." Sans said. I grinned back at him, before I dropped the orb into the snow and my smile faded.

"I gotta ask you something."

"Hm? What is it, kid?"

"Do you know how to quit the game?"

Sans's eyes seemed to lose their humor, and I immediately regretted saying something.

"I... you d-don't have to tell me now. I could help cheer up your brother if you want..." I said reluctantly.

"Well, how did you start the game?" Sans asked.

"I, uh, can't remember."

"Then force-shut it down."

"I... can't do that."

Sans looked a bit strained. "I can't help you, kid. I've... never been able to..." He diverted his eyes, " _quit_ , myself. It's something only _they_ can do." At my dumbfounded look, he walked off, saying over his shoulder, "I'm sure you'll find out on your own, kiddo."

"Yeah... thanks, Sans!" I said. It was genuine. Sans wasn't too big on talking about that stuff. He quickly disappeared out of sight in a snowflake-fog. _Still, looks like a dead end..._ I kept going, and then blinked. _End... The neutral ending... Flowey force-closed the game, right? Maybe I can escape then..._ I shook my head _. No! I can't rely on him. Knowing him, he'll probably catch on to my plan and then I'd be trapped forever in this game with his stupid god-powers. I have to rely on someone else..._ I thought as I walked through the snow. _Asriel is basically Flowey, so if I asked him, would he let me exit the game? But... what if he isn't able to? No, he broke the barrier... He should let me quit. So... I should get the true ending. Does Flowey know about the true ending? Will he stop the monsters from protecting me? He can't possibly know that much, right? I should make sure... urgh... time travel makes my head hurt. Or maybe it's all the running around I'm doing. I don't even feel thirsty, though. Do I have any right to befriend monsters so they can sacrifice themselves for me, even if the sacrifice is temporary? Well... they'll be happy in the end, so... win-win for everybody I guess. Alright... I'll try for the true ending, then. If anything else comes up before that I'll take it._

Determined to go through my plan, I raised my head high. Maybe I was weak and I was gonna probably get hurt a lot, but there was no way I wasn't going to get the ending I didn't want when I've played this game so much! I blinked when I spotted a sleepy blue rabbit leaning on an ice cream cart, dressed in a bright yellow shirt and red overalls.

"Aw... how come these aren't selling... it's the perfect weather for something cold..." He mumbled.

 _Food! Food can heal my hands! But... I only have 1g._ I decided to pass him, and he got more depressed. I saw one of those rail-less bridges again and carefully put my weight on it, trying not to focus on the terrifying and deadly rocky drop in between the two snowy cliffs. It was stable. I backed up and ran towards the bridge, jumping and ending up high above it. For a moment, the wind rushing in my ears and the height of my jump made it feel like I was truly flying. I started dropping, and my eyes widened as I realized I wasn't going to land on the bridge. At the sight of certain death, I felt a powerful throb in my chest and my feet became encased in a red aura, slowing my fall enough to land a foot away from the edge on the snow. I skidded to a stop, and looked at my feet curiously. They were my normal black shoes, which were whiter now that they were covered in snow. Was it my imagination? My attention was quickly diverted when I smelled campfire. Following my nose, I found a fire crackling in the distance.

And, apparently, I wasn't the only one who could smell campfire... Lesser Dog, Greater Dog, Dogamy and Dogaressa were all huddled around the fire, barking at each other. _What great work ethic._ I thought sarcastically, crouching down. I weighed my options... I could roll around in the snow to try to smell like a puppy... and then pet them and throw sticks to distract them? Or I could sneak around them and not have to worry too much about running into them later... I walked over to some pine trees and picked up a stick. I used what remaining usable fingers I had and put the end of the stick end into the snow, using the side of my foot to rub the needles off the stick. I put the stick in my mouth using my wrists and rubbed the ends of the stick on the cliff to dull them a bit. I braced myself before rolling around in the snow, scrubbing myself as hard and quickly as I could. I felt snot drip from my nose, and wiped my face on my snow-covered sleeve. I took my pine-stick from the ground in my mouth and walked towards the fire. There was no turning back now, unless I wanted to get hypothermia and die before I even reach the next save point. Hopefully the little star got rid of sickness too.

"Woof woof!" Lesser Dog bounded up to me, the other dogs watching. I waved the stick to get his attention before grabbing it between my hands, spinning and throwing it as far as I could. The stick went a good ten yards into the golf course to my right and _all_ the dogs charged after it. I grinned at my stroke of luck and ran towards the fire, only to be interrupted just before I can feel its warmth by four dogs tackling me painfully hard and dropping a slobbery stick on my face. I cried out in pain and they backed off, Dogi looking concerned while lesser and greater dog looked blissfully happy. I had trouble breathing for a few moments from getting the wind knocked out by a paw-to-the-stomach before picking up the stick. The dogs vibrated with excitement as I stood, especially greater dog, who was actually making a thrumming sound and shaking the air with his power. I spun around and around, and threw it even farther away. The dogs nearly fell over each other as they ran after it, barking.

"I'm gonna beat you, puppy~!" Dogamy challenged as he pulled ahead.

"Not if I beat you first, hunsky!" Dogaressa snarled. I finally sat by the fire and sighed in relief at the warmth. I couldn't see Sans anywhere. I would have to thank him when I saw him.

I heard heavy panting and looked up to see greater dog hovering above me. Like... he was a couple feet off the ground. His tail was a helicopter. I reached up and took the stick from him with both of my hands, wondering where the other dogs had gone before standing, spinning, and throwing the stick again, out of sight. Greater dog landed on the ground as lesser dog's head suddenly raised up and caught it midair. His head lowered and landed a few feet away with a small, snowy thunk. I took the stick with my partially defrosted hand and patted his head, saying, "Good one!" and his head extended and he faceplanted into some trees behind me, knocking them down. I threw the stick again, Dogamy and Dogaressa ran up and picked it up in their mouths in unison and pranced towards me. Greater dog stomped in front of them, whining, and they started sparring with axes and spears to see who would become the True Fetcher of The Stick.

I watched them duke it out as I held my hands out to the fire, feeling splendidly sleepy after the effect of the warmth after being cold for so long and the four-armored-dog tackle settled in. An attack like that would've probably taken out a good chunk of my hp... I felt a prickling sensation, bruises forming on my stomach and the arms and legs I tried to defend myself with. Lesser dog's head slowly retracted until he bounded over and joined the spar for the stick, tackling Dogamy to the ground and invoking Dogressa's wrath. Greater dog walked back, panting heavily and looking tired. I tried backing away, but the Greater dog stopped, jumped out of the suit of armor, and pranced towards me. He turned to the side and flopped onto my lap. I decided it wouldn't be a good idea to move, and slowly leaned into the white dog's fur. He didn't mind it as I curled over him. I found it harder and harder to keep my eyes open until I just ended up closing them, the dog spar becoming softer in the distance.

 _I think it would be fine to rest a little... Papyrus and Sans can wait a little, right? The dogs... wouldn' hurt an sleepin' friends..._ At that sluggish thought, my body fully relaxed and we both fell asleep.

A/N: Looks like most of these chapters are firing out to be about 3k words each... cool~

Aurawarrior13: I wasn't too sure about it either, but after writing it I realized it was really fun to do~. Also, your ice puns fill me with determination. Snowdrake would be jealous.

PenNinja1900: Thanks for reviewing this story so much! I guess stuff written for myself has at least some amusement for others, hehe. Having followers inspires me to edit more than I usually do.


	6. Chapter 6: Puzzles Everywhere

Chapter 6: Puzzles Everywhere

When I didn't dream, my consciousness seemed to split into resting mind and resting body. I knew this because I could feel warm dog-smelling weights pushing me into a warm dog cacoon of sleep that I never wanted to leave. Also, I could both feel and hear someone- no, two people approaching, and my body gradually brought my mind back to reality as it asked who was approaching me with such intensity.

"Looks comfortable. I would join em', but they would probably chew on me." A lower voice wistfully chuckled.

"AREN'T YOU ALL SUPPOSED TO BE ON DUTY ELSEWHERE?!" Another voice shouted, scaring everybody awake. The dogs scattered, yelping, greater dog jumping into his suit headfirst and running away with his tail in the air. I jumped up onto my feet, my heart rate accelerating at the sudden awakening and the fact I was in a dangerous area with someone I would have to fight soon. I reflexively got into fighting stance, blinking groggily at two clothed skeletons looking at me. Papyrus announced in 'evil' pride, "RISE AND SHINE, HUMAN, THERE ARE MORE PUZZLES FOR YOU TO SOLVE! ALSO, YOU FELL INTO MY BROTHER SAN'S TRAP... TO KEEP YOU FROM PROGRESSING! NOW YOU WILL BE STUMPED NOW FOR SURE! NYEHEHEHEHE!" Papyrus jumped to impossible heights with his legs flailing, as if he was running on the air, landing out of sight.

"You got me, man." I mumbled to Sans, rubbing at the corner of my eyes and yawning.

"Who knew... all we needed to catch a human, was a skele _ton_ of dog cuddles?" Sans grinned with his eyes.

"Thanks, by the way." I remembered to say, looking at the ground and realizing there were 4 bags of gold around me. _What a way to start a morning._

"No prob. Y'know, I've been thinking of selling some treats myself. Want some grilled snow?" Sans shifted his weight onto one foot.

"Doesn't it have too much sentimental value to you?" I asked as I picked up the bags of gold. My hands were crusted in blood, but I could move them fine now. All my aches and pains were gone, just a little biting from the winter air that I was kind of getting used to.

"Yeesh, you're a tough customer."

"Ulna-ver defeat me." I muttered.

"That's _tibia_ -nnounced." Sans retorted, turning and walking away, "I'll see you around, kid."

"See ya." I said with a challenging grin, waving. I dropped my hand when he was out of sight and felt a bit nervous because that was really the only clever bone pun I had, and I had basically declared war against a pun master. _We are going to piss off Papyrus_ _ **so**_ _much._ I anticipated. I tried shoving the money pouches into my pockets but they were too large. I ended up tying the strings of the pouches to my belt loops instead and walked down the golf course. I found the giant snowball used as a golf ball and kicked it along the way. I managed to get it into the golf hole, and an orange flag rose out of it. A little note was attached to it, waving like a tiny flag. I took and read it. ' _You are the kind of person who rushes fists-first through all obstacles.' Is this some kind of horoscope or fortune game?_

I shrugged and continued down the pathway, where the bone brothers were waiting for me with a cleared space of snow before them, revealing icy rock.

"HUMAN! I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR-" Papyrus paused, "SANS! WHERE IS THE PUZZLE?!"

"It's right there. On the ground. Trust me, there's no way they can get past this one."

I was used to walking on icy ground, and carefully rested my weight on ones foot at a time until I picked up a frozen sheet of smeared ink that looked vaguely like a kid's word search puzzle. "I can't solve this." I said bluntly.

"See, it worked."

I stepped up to Papyrus, who yelled, "SANS! THAT DIDN'T STOP THEM AT ALL!"

"Whoops. I knew I should've used today's crossword instead."

"WHAT?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT! IN MY OPINION... JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST."

"Seriously, dude?"

"Is this cold?" I asked, reaching up and gently putting the side of the frozen paper against Papyrus's face. He was only a half a foot taller than me, really.

"I CANNOT FEEL THE COLD, HUMAN!"

"Dangit." I kicked some snow to the side as Papyrus went back to arguing with Sans as to what was harder- junior jumble or crossword. I wasn't really listening, a bit frustrated that Papyrus didn't freak out when they were supposed to be brothers and bones did indeed have blood vessels and nerves and Sans bled when he-

"HUMAN! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE!"

"Huh?" I asked.

"Which is harder? Crossword or junior jumble?" Sans asked.

"Junior jumble." I said immediately.

"HA! HA! HUMANS MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT! IF THEY ALSO FIND JUNIOR JUMBLE SO DIFFICULT! NYEH! HEH! HEH HEH!" Papyrus ran off, leaving a 3-second maelstrom of snow flurries behind him. I stumbled and shivered a bit at the wind. I looked to Sans.

"Thanks for saying 'junior jumble' just to appease my brother. Yesterday he was stumped trying to 'solve' the horoscope." Sans said.

"Junior jumble is really hard. You can find so many words with so many letters." I said honestly.

"Crossword has synonyms for many of the same meanings."

"I can't look up meanings of jumbled up words on the internet."

"That's cheating."

"Well... uh... I actually kinda don't like word puzzles."

"That's weird."

"Says the skeleton."

"Says the only human in the underground."

"Touché." I walked past him with a pout, and earned a short chuckle. I felt myself gradually getting colder, and untied my bandage-sleeve from my arm. I winced because blood was making it stick to my skin. My fingers slowly separated the cloth from my skin as I found a table of frosty spaghetti and a microwave. I pried a meatball from the noodles, put it into one of the pouches tied onto my belt loops for a memo or to eat when it defrosted, and moved onwards, finally pulling the sleeve off my arm. I slipped it back onto my arm, only to stop when I realized there was a star glowing to my right. I went up to it and touched it. The throb from my skin disappeared, and my clothes mended back together. I felt more energy than that nap gave me. _If I gather enough LOVE, will I actually be more awake for a long time than I feel now? Losing hp... it must make me sleepy somehow. Well... I won't ever find out. I'm not killing anybody. I won't kill Flowey either, even if I hate him..._ I daydreamed as I walked onwards, _But I can't help but wonder... If I can't escape this world, should I just reset and kill everyone? I mean, IF I can reset... Funny, you can be the hero of the world and then end their happiness just as suddenly, and they are completely unable to remember it. You could kill their friends, torture them until they almost break, and then reset and carry on as usual._ I wondered where the heck these thoughts were coming from. _No... I wouldn't be able to carry on as usual... My conscience is way too powerful. I still bad about asking Sans how to quit when he was so happy... If I killed anybody on purpose, with my own hands... But I did kill them indirectly. Through Frisk. I was just curious, and I wanted to fight Sans, but... seeing as this world is real and I'm existing in it... does that mean I've already killed everyone in a different timeline? Oddly enough, I don't feel affected by it at all... weird. Maybe my conscience isn't as powerful as I thought. I should be-_

"Bark bark!" I was so deep in thought that I never saw the lesser dog coming until a huge weight tackle-hugged me into the ground. I hit the snow hard enough to feel the rock underneath, and the snow-crash path we made covered us in snow. Lesser dog wagged his tail and licked my face.

"Ow! Sto-ahahaha!" I pushed the dog's licks away and looked around for a stick. I found a few underneath some pine trees and picked up the biggest one. I plucked out the pine needles and then waved it around. Lesser dog's head extended higher and higher until I threw the stick away from both of us. Lesser dog charged after it, his neck extending and snatching the stick before it hit the ground. He dropped the drool-covered stick in my hands and then ran off- to patrol elsewhere most likely. I waved goodbye and decided to hang onto the stick, thoroughly covered in snow. I brushed off what I could before I continued onwards.

 _I'm cold again... oh well... I wonder... Who feels the worse pain when they kill? The commander or the soldier that has to do it?_ I thought, my thoughts not so easily ignored after they had been interrupted. I even felt annoyed that the dog had interrupted my inner monologue... but he didn't mean any harm. I picked the healed scabs off of my hands. _The soldier._ I decided. _Because they can stop themselves, their very souls are in danger... And the commander is safe, even if they are responsible._ I kicked at the snow to find a map hidden underneath. I approached the spikes blocking the way and backed up, cutting my daydreams short. I jumped as high as I could... yeah, I could make it. I backed up a dozen more steps, and then charged forward, my steps shortening as I got closer until I sprang up with all my strength, my arms spread out like wings. My feet barely touched the tips of the spikes and I curled my feet up, not realizing that this wasn't the best idea until I landed on my butt.

"Owwww..." I got up unsteadily, rubbing my jarred back. I limped a bit to the middle of the area with two cross-marks in the snow. Dogamy and Dogaressa bounded up to me.

"What's this smell?"

"You smell familiar? 

"You smell like the lost cuddly puppy!"

"I have a stick." I supplied helpfully.

"Throw the stick the stick throw the stick!" The Dogi howled in delight. I threw the stick out of sight, where a faint but familiar voice yelled, "OW! WHERE DID THIS STICK COME FROM?!"

"Oops." I said, blinking as the Dogi rushed off together. I followed them and found a puzzle with x's half surrounded by snow mounds. I saw the Dogi take the stick from Papyrus and bring it over to me. I took the stick and rubbed their heads.

"Dogs can pet other dogs? Wow!" Dogaressa said to Dogamy. The nuzzled with their snouts and ran off together.

"Sorry for hitting you accidentally, Papyrus!" I called to the skeleton.

"OH, THAT IS FINE. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. THE GREAT PAPYRUS FORGIVES YOU." Papyrus shouted back over the spikes. There was a puzzle in a H formation with colored X's in between the gaps of the H. I stepped onto an X in the snow and it turned into an O. **Tcht!** I then jumped and watched it turn back. **Tcht!** Finding myself extremely amused by the magic, I basically ran in place, watching the flashing x's and O's making a almost purple pattern in the snow. **Tcht tcht tcht tcht tcht tcht tcht thct tchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtcht-** the puzzle eventually got tired of my shenanigans and forced itself to be a right green O, the spikes ahead de-activating. I stomped angrily in the snow, but only the sound of crushing sky ice reached my ears. The O shifted and launched me across the deactivated spikes like some blasted cartoon, and I face-planted into the snow besides Papyrus.

"WHAT?! HOW DID YOU DEACTIVATE MY TRAP?!" Papyrus exclaimed as I sat up on the soft snow, snorting and coughing on the snow that went up my nose. "AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, IS THERE ANY MORE LEFT FOR ME?!" I blinked and rubbed snow out of my eyes to see Papyrus practically sparkling with hope as he said that. Uh... what was he talking about?

 _What did you do with the spaghetti?_ I remembered.

"I left it. I did take a meatball, though. I have to try some of the great Papyrus's cooking before he kicks my butt, y'know." I said with a thumbs up.

"REALLY? WOWIE... YOU RESISTED THE FLAVOR OF MY HOMECOOKED PASTA... JUST SO YOU CAN SHARE THE REST WITH ME?! DO NOT FRET, HUMAN, I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS WILL COOK YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU SHALL EVER WANT! EVEN BEFORE I 'KICK YOUR BUTT'! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH NYEH!" He walked away normally for once. I followed him, and he paused. "MY BROTHER STARTED A SOCK COLLECTION RECENTLY... HOW SADDENING. SOMETIMES I WONDER WHAT HE WOULD DO... WITHOUT SUCH A COOL GUY TAKING CARE OF HIM? NYEH HEH HEH!"

"Sans would be pretty sad without you Papyrus. You two are the same sides of the coin... er, opposite sides of the same coin." I stated, walking by him. He blinked, his face blushing slightly.

"YOU REALLY THINK SO?!" He asked shyly, if yelling can be considered shy.

I nodded with a smile and I eyed the next x and o puzzle in front of me, before stepping onto an x and running in place on top of it at full speed. **Tcht tcht tchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtch** t

"HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted behind me, nearly making me jump out of my skin. I looked to him... he seemed sheepish? "HM... HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS... YOU WERE TAKING A LONG TIME NAPPING, SO I UPGRADED THIS PUZZLE BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY BODY. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND. NOW THE SOLUTION IS DIFFERENT! AND, AS USUAL, MY LAZY BROTHER IS NOWHERE AROUND. I SUPPOSE WHAT I'M SAYING IS..." He struck a pose, his cave flapping in the wind, "WORRY NOT, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THIS CONUNDRUM! THEN WE CAN BOTH PROCEED! ALSO, THIS PUZZLE IS VERY PATIENT COMPARED TO THE OTHER ONE, SO YOU'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT PROPERLY. FEEL FREE TO TRY IT."

I realized I was just wasting energy by stomping on the x's and o's and stopped, stepping back to examine the pattern more carefully. It was huge and I couldn't see any resemblance to Papyrus at all. Maybe I needed to look at it from a bird's eye view. I thought of the game's puzzle but this one was even larger than that.

"Ummm..." I mumbled, walking around the edges. I decided to just go through it. I stepped onto an x and walked forward.

After what felt like hours of trying in minimal winter clothing in the snow, I was pretty frustrated. I tried to jump over some of the o's but the puzzle, by some weird magic, merely threw me back onto the spot I jumped from. There was even one point where all the x's were o's except one point in the middle.

"... Papyrus, can you help me?" I asked reluctantly. Maybe two people could figure this puzzle out, cause I don't think Papyrus himself knew the sol-

"ARE YOU STUMPED, HUMAN?! NYEH HEH HEH! WORRY NOT, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL COME TO YOUR AID." Papyrus walked over to a tree, pulled a lever, and all the x's turned to o's. My eye vaguely twitched as he walked back to me, humming quite happily. I did not remember there being a lever. _I should've just asked him sooner and not be half-frozen._ I swear there was ice forming on my skin at this point. "IF YOU THINK THIS PUZZLE IS DIFFICULT, YOU WILL HAVE LOTS OF FUN WITH THE NEXT ONE! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus declared, running ahead. I trotted after him, only to see Sans waiting on the other end of the spikes. I paused by him, he looked like he had something to say.

"Nice effort. Looks like you two didn't need my help. Which is great, cause' I like doing absolutely nothing." He said.

"What would've you done if the lever didn't work?" I asked curiously.

"Probably pull the other lever."

"How many levers are there?"

"As many as I want."

I stared at him before shaking my head and moving onwards... to a cliff path. A dangerous drop was to either side of me, and I did my best to stare at the snow and stay as far in the middle as I could. I stopped at one of those accursed bridges without railings over a small but treacherous gap.

"HEY! IT'S THE HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed, and I snapped my head up to look at him, my feet freezing into place. "YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS! YOU SEE THESE TILES?" I looked to the black and white tiles on the other side of the bridge with a... very... large... drop... "WHEN I THROW THIS SWITCH, THEY WILL CHANGE COLOR!" I approached the bridge and got low to the ground, carefully putting a foot on it. I felt heavier, the bridge's wood looked so flimsy, I felt myself struggling to stand, my mind was screaming 'get away from there, you're going to fall!', I was going to die wasn't I? _No I'm not, hurry up and cross before Sans laughs at you!_ I told myself. As I struggled within the grip of fear, the flash of colors caught my attention and I used the distraction to finally cross and stand at the edge of the flashing lights. I was blinded as they started flashing with so many colors that they seemed to turn white, until the beeping stopped and I was met with a straight pink line going through some red squares.

Papyrus was somehow spinning like a top, and Sans backed off as his brother became a whirlwind that quickly spun off out of sight. I stepped onto the pink tiles and approached the red tile, only to smack face-first into an invisible wall. I held my nose, but I didn't feel any blood trickle out. I made my way across the pink colored lights, looking up to Sans, who looked lost in thought. At least he wasn't making fun of me. He faced me when I stopped by him.

"That spaghetti from earlier... it wasn't too bad for my brother. Since he's been taking cooking lessons, he's been improving a lot. I bet if he keeps it up, next year he'll even make something edible." He said, his lighted eye-dots eventually wandering away from me. I took the meatball I took out from earlier and held it up to the light of the white sky... or glowing rock sky? The meatball glistened in the light. It was still frozen solid.

"Think this'll give me any hitpoints if I defrosted it?" I asked.

"Why not find out for yourself?" Sans replied.

"Oh, yeah. I wonder if the merchant has a microwave..." A gust blew, and though I was kinda used to the cold my skin got some goosebumps from that. My nose was starting to drip. I sniffed and waved to Sans, who looked too out of it to reply. I continued onwards, staying in the middle of the thankfully wider path. I could see a forest, and towers and loops of wormlike snow. Walking closer, I could see some dog heads made out of snow glistening. I kept on the path and admired the sculptures, and heard a faint snoring coming from a sentry station. I walked up to it to see the armored fluffy Lesser Dog peacefully sleeping.

"Good job." I whispered, and left him in peace. Between the many snowdog sculptures, a cow-like monster wandered and admired them. I waved and they waved back, but I didn't want to say anything to wake up the dog. A flicker and a warm feeling made my head turn towards a glowing golden star underneath an arch of snow. I reached out and touched it, closing my eyes to feel the sensation of my aching nose fading away. I held onto it for a little bit, looking around as my imagination turned the snow dog sculptures into dozens of cute white shiba dogs. I was reminded of my own dog, Scout, and how we used to play in the snow together- well, we _would_ play in the snow once I got out of this place somehow. Snow was cold but kind; unpleasant if it touches the skin, but soft and cushioning your fall if you slip.

I sighed and pushed on. Quickly, I found another x and o puzzle. This one had strategically placed ice, and a gap between the edge of the cliff ahead and an ice-covered cave. I tested the ice with my foot, only to be pulled forward by an unknown force. I tripped and body flopped onto an snow X, turning it into an O, the snowman's carrot flying out of my shirt. **Tcht!**

I stood back up, silently cursing the skeleton brothers in my head as I picked up the lukewarm carrot and stuffed it back into my shirt. I looked at the other x's and o's and found the solution easily, but I had to reset the map... I shifted from foot to foot and found an upraised rock. My core tightened as I braced myself, and leapt onto the ice. I stepped onto the rock and it sunk under my foot, but the mysterious force pulled me further than the rock... over the cliff.

I swore in a strangled voice as the sensation of falling a great height overwhelmed everything, and I didn't care that the snow would cushion my fall. The snow below couldn't possibly be deep enough; this was like falling from a fifth story building! I screamed and shut my eyes, curling up. Responding to my peril, I could feel my soul pulsing and making my body faster and my mind sharper, but what good would that do?! My heart thundered in my chest, my feet softly touching the snow. I peeked through my eyelids a little, wondering if my awareness was so fast that time was slowing. The first thing I noticed was a snow sculpture of Papyrus and a mound of snow, and then the _red_ that covered Papyrus's cape, made up Sans's label, and the light that reflected off the snow. My feet were glowing, my black shoes encased in a red aura. My soul had appeared, floating an inch from my chest. As my adrenaline turned into wonder, I was abruptly dropped into the snow, my red soul sinking back into my chest. I lied there, looking up at the sparkling icicles hanging off the cliff, and then sat up to look at my feet. They were their normal black, covered in snow.

"Dang... I can fly...?" I said softly.

A/N:

anon: Cool, it's nice to have another reader. Thanks for giving this one a try!

Aurawarrior13: We must have a lot in common then, cause this girl is me! I initially had her be terrified of Sans, but after writing that scene afterwards out it didn't seem to... flow correctly? I just kept getting stuck, so I changed my approach. Right on!

Sakura Kishi: YOUR ENTHUSIASM FILLS ME WITH DETERMINATION!

: Thanks! We'll see whom she meets next~!

ChillingShadow: I try my best to keep everyone in character. I'm watching a lot of playthroughs and looking at wikis ^-^ It's more fun that way!

Connie Hooper: Thank you!

K: I'm trying my best not to godmod myself into something like a Mary Sue, to have realistic interactions. It's a different experience, kinda like being in a nonlucid dream since well, this character is me. Maybe over time, this me in the story will develop into a separate character than me? That's my hope.


	7. Chapter 7: Walkin in a WinterWonderland

Chapter 7: Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

I looked around to see if I was alone. Monsters seemed to flock when my soul appeared, but luckily it was just Snow Papyrus, the snowy staircase leading back up to the puzzle, and I. There wasn't really any other chance of privacy I had...

Mentally reaching into myself, I summoned my soul again. I held it in my hands and felt the energy tingle against my fingertips. I still couldn't get over the fact that this glowing heart was the very essence of my being... How was it even scientifically possible? From the pulses of unease going through me at the slightest pressure from my fingertips, it felt fragile. I wondered if Alphys could tell me, once I reached her.

 _Make me fly again._ I ordered. My soul waved back and forth, as if shaking its head. _Come on! You're supposed to obey me, right? You're my soul!_ I fiercely thought. Almost hesitantly, the soul floated back to my chest and hovered a few inches from it, pulsing bright until my shoes glowed with red light. I grinned and stood up, willing myself to rise into the air. Gravity was a joke, I didn't need to do the puzzle! I looked up the cavern above me, past the puzzle and willed myself to float past the gap.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A face. I looked towards it and the gaping maw of a giant ice monster greeted me, its eyes flashing red and the ice crumbling as it was revealed, the snow tumbling off it in waves. I blinked, wide eyed, and it had turned back into the puzzle cliff. Unease crawled up my back. Suddenly nervous, I slowly turned around and saw cloaked figures in the dark cavern, completely still and watching me.

I was gripped completely by fear when I looked at their white eyes. The white snow seemed to turn darker. It was turning to night. The figures were pulling me into the cavern through some unknown force, hands crawling out from the gaps in the rock of the cliff.

My feet touched the edge of the cliff and I could see glints of knives within the cavern, dripping with blood. They were going to kill me in there, and I was convinced that I was going to die. I had dropped my stick at some point, and had only my fists to deal with. My heart thundered in my chest and I just wanted to hide. I gritted my teeth, willed myself closer, and reached out to one of the cloaked figures, only for my fear to spike to mind-blurring degrees. My hand went through it. It wasn't real. It wasn't real, but I needed to get away from it.

Letting out a strangled scream, I willed my soul to shoot through the cave- it wasn't supposed to hurt me, right?! It didn't hurt me in the game! My fight-or-flight response went to literal levels as I shot blindly through the cave, the knives glinting bright red around me, nicking through my skin as I narrowly survived getting impaled by them. I was inches above a path of blood, and couldn't stop my panicked velocity as I was lead to a meat wall. I went through it, and cold shocked me back to my senses as I rocketed above snowy ground, the brightness and snow burning my eyes before everything started darkening again...! I collapsed to the ground on my knees and didn't dare look back, gasping for air and feeling blood welling to my cuts. I gripped the snow, trying to get a hold of myself.

I knew those were illusions, but let fear control me anyway. I was... ashamed. The hallucinations were like those I had at night, when I was alone... never during the day. I managed to catch my breath, and the glow faded from my chest and my soul went back inside me. The hesitance of my soul to make me fly... the terrors... the connection didn't escape me. It looked like I could fly whenever I wanted, but I had to deal with night terrors.

"What a inconvenient power." I muttered, standing up and brushing off my burning hands of what snow I could. I most likely lost hit points from that fiasco. I had progressed and learned more about my soul, but was it worth it? Now that it was over with... It was, I think.

There were two paths before me- a path down full of cliffs on either side and a path that led to piles of snow far in the distance. I walked down the path that had cliffs surrounding it, feeling more hidden behind them. I still wanted to hide, and now that the adrenaline was fading away I could feel stabs of pain from where the knives... er, icicles, cut me. They had torn my sweater and pants to shreds that barely held together, and I kinda just led them bleed. _They aren't that bad_. I thought. _But I should've bought some nice cream... I still somehow have my gold bags... When I get to town, I'm gonna buy a lot of stuff. And take a nap._

In the distance I could see that the cliff I was walking on ended and the path curled to the right. A flash of blue caught my eye amidst all the gray and white and I paused when I saw who it was.

"What's up?" Sans asked while I blinked at him. Seeing a skeleton talk and look at you with glowing pupils after a night terror wasn't the best way to calm down but I shoved my feelings aside to respond.

"Nothin' much." I said in the same tone as his, feeling something trickle down my arms and down my fingers. I looked at the source. Oh yeah. I was bleeding. Maybe the cuts on my arms were deeper than I thought. _I really am an idiot. My soul tried to warn me but nooooo... I had to find out!_ I sighed at the thought and walked past Sans, I didn't have much to say to him.

A figure leapt from the cliffs and slammed into the snow in front of me, huffing great breaths of steam. It was a deer-like creature with pine trees for antlers and a mouth like pinchers. I saw the anger blazing in their eyes and stepped back, lifting my hands up.

"Whoah, man, just passing through." I said with an uneasy smile, eying the pictures and fluffy pipe cleaners decorating the... Gyftrot's antlers and head.

"You think I'm stupid, kid?!" The gyftrot shook it head in anger, stomping his hoof for emphasis as dozens of baseball-sized orbs of white magic surrounded him, "You're not putting any more things on me!"

My soul sparked back to life and I focused on the orbs. They seemed to slow as my mind went silent, feeling a sort of odd calmness spread over me as I followed the best pathway to twist and dance through, every movement propelled by adrenaline. I felt some of them skim by my shoulders, which I felt blood rush to but pain was not a priority right now. In a gap of the attack, I briefly felt unease as I glimpsed the red glow surround my feet again, before I ordered my soul to get closer to the Gyftrot. The orbs paused as I rocketed close to the monster, not wanting to fire themselves at their own caster as he retreated back. I reached out and plucked off a photo of Snowdrake from his tree-like horns. Gyftrot bounded back from me and the orbs danced in random directions. I looked around wildly as they surrounded me, not finding an opportunity to weave through them right away. My feet tapped the surface of the snow and I looked up to find a hole. I surged through it, the orbs following behind me like a horde of slow angry bees. The wind whistled against my face, fluttering through my clothes and making me _pissed off_ at how cold I was.

"FLUPPER DUPPERS IT'S FLIPPING COLD!" I yelled, my bags of gold pulled slightly at my belt loops as I suddenly switched direction, divebombing towards the Gyftrot. He looked at me wide eyes and tried to retreat back, but I merely stopped myself quite suddenly. My coin bags slammed against my sides. I was probably going to be bruised, heck, my arms were bright red with blood and dripping on the Gyftrot at this point. I fiddled with the pictures attached to him and Gyftrot actually stayed still for once. Taking them off, I tossed the pictures to the ground and Gyftrot stomped on them. The orbs of magic surrounded us, and I quickly fiddled with the pipe cleaners on Gyftrot's tree horns. I wasn't gentle, I was impatient, and Gyftrot snorted out steam at me.

"Be more gentle, punk!" He growled, but with a wary glance at the orbs I realized he had finally stopped attacking me, "And quit putting paint on me!"

Oh yeah, I was all drippy with that coppery-smelling stuff. I started laughing for no reason at the sight of it dying the monster's bark a reddish color and making his green pine needles red as well when my hand brushed by them. It didn't really matter that the pipe cleaner ends were poking my fingers; at this point, I was so cold my entire body was numb. It took a few minutes of me floating about the Gyftrot to fully take off the pipe cleaners, and eventually we both began to calm down. His orbs dissipated and gravity slowly began to claim me again. I tossed those pesky things aside and stood admiring Gytrot's cleaned, if bloodstained, tree horns. He eyed me with a sort of hopeful happiness twinkling in his eyes.

"You're not gonna kill me... right?" I asked. Oh boy, here comes the dizzyiness. I kept my eyes on the cheered up monster, still cautious.

"No... I feel better now," Gyftrot said, but added with an annoyed tone, "I do hope that red paint was not put on me on purpose."

"Nah. This is blood." I said leisurely.

"Blood? Like a human?" Gyftrot said suspiciously, but shook his head, his branches rattling, "Nevermind, I suppose I'll trust you..." He walked off past me, and I watched him go. He has the body of any other deer. Once he was out of sight, I obeyed my dizziness and sat down, holding my head, not caring if it I was getting blood on my forehead and hair.

"I'm a mess." I muttered, chuckling as I examined my injuries. My sleeves were nonexistent, just tatters. My arms figuratively looked like wolves had chewed on them. Besides previous death cave injuries, I couldn't feel or see anything else. I decided that getting to Snowdin was a priority, and looked in the direction I was heading in. It looked like there was another cave... in the distance? I really didn't feel like going into any more caves today. Closing my eyes, I tried to catch my wandering thoughts of where I should go. Uh, that cave led to a mystery dead end. I didn't have the energy to explore it. I just wanted to sleep. I brought myself back up and walked back from where I came, shivering.

Sans was in the same spot, and looked at me as I looked at him. I gave him a halfhearted wave.

"What's up?" He greeted, again.

"Probably nearly dead." I replied nonchalantly, my thoughts having some kind of rave party in my head. It was difficult to speak properly, and at this point I didn't care, "Have fun?"

"You could _hop_ over to town and buy a cinnabunny." Sans said, shifting his weight to his other foot.

"I'd gonna hop on your head." I muttered, walking away, "Allll the way home. Wee woo woo woo wooh!"

I tried to hop in a _brilliant_ act of defiance, but slipped on a patch of ice upon landing and fell onto my butt. It didn't hurt. Sans barely muffled his laughter.

"Shut up." I grumbled, standing back up and stomping up the hill, "Three little piggies, two little piggies, one little pig went to the supermarket and ran all the way home..." I smiled as I remembered my mom telling me the rhyme I couldn't quite remember. What else would I forget in time? What if I couldn't get out of here? "I wanna go home..." I muttered, feeling like a small child hearing the rhyme for the first time.

My emotions dull, I kept walking on even as I wanted to lie down, blood leaving a trail behind me. I walked past a doghouse, around piles of snow, and the smell of pure wet dog assaulted my nostrils as Greater Dog stood up from a snow pile.

"Woof!" He barked, jumping out of his armor and tackling me to the ground to assault my face with licks. Dog licks were magical, no matter if they were monster or not. Immediately pure and utter giddiness surged through me and I started to laugh and sputter.

"Down! Down!" I exclaimed, laughing and pushing the dog off me. The fluffy white dog didn't mind the blood that got him and ran in circles around me. I chased him around. I quickly tired after about ten seconds though, letting myself fall into the snow and frowning at the sudden dizziness assaulting my senses. Greater Dog approached me, his tail wagging, and bolted away as soon as I sat back up.

"I... uh... Sorry. Can't play. Gotta sleep." I said to him. Greater Dog whined and licked my face again before hopping into his armor and having the giant suit stomp away, the steps heavy enough to shake the ground. I stood up and found that playing with the dog had broken some scabs forms on my arms. I yawned and stumbled onwards, to find a bridge over a gap. I looked down and didn't really feel afraid of the height for some odd reason. Maybe it was because I could fly? I could see a forest beyond the bridge.

I got to the middle of the bridge when I heard an audible gasp. I finally lifted my heavy head to find the Bone Brothers, right on schedule.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted, "THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE." I decided to sit on the ground and wait it out, putting my forehead in my hands. If I didn't interact, things would go as they did in the game, right? "BEHOLD! THE DEADLY GAUNTLE- HEY! HUMAN! WAKE UP!" Looks like I was wrong. I debated ignoring him and just laying there. Maybe he would just carry me to Snowdin. But ugh, I didn't want to use him like that. I stood back up and put on my best bravado.

"SHOW ME, PAPAYA!" I mocked loudly, smirking. Whoah, dizziness, screaming with so much blood loss was _not_ a good idea.

"I AM THE GREAT _PAPYRUS_!" Papyrus shouted, momentarily annoyed before he proudly announced, "BEHOLD, HUMAN, THE DEADLY GAUNTLET OF TERROR!"

Floating up from the ground and down from the black ceiling, cannons, giant torches, giant spears, a giant flail mace, and a white dog with a skinny tail hanging by a rope appeared. Despite knowing what would happen, I felt a little scared. What if Papyrus actually did activate it...? Did I tease him too much?

"WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!"

"I'm going to die." I muttered, chuckling to myself, accepting the worst possibility as I leaned over the edge of the bridge and towards the giant torch for warmth, my arms hanging over the edge. Oh, man, the pain was coming back now.

"ARE YOU READY?! BECAUSE I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!" Papyrus yelled.

I closed my eyes, okay with that for some reason. I just wanted to sleep. Sans's voice said something but I was too tired to understand words at this point. I forced my eyes back open and watched the flame flicker below as if hypnotized by it.

"HOLDUP?!" Papyrus's voice echoed, sounding far away. I felt my knees touch the wooden bridge, and my arms, however bloody and throbbing they were, seemed like great pillows at the moment. I couldn't proceed until the flames were put away. I should just close my eyes just for a few seconds, sleep just for a second, and then I'll feel better. But I refused.

"YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I'M A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS!" Papyrus's voice came back into focus as I panted as if I ran a race.

"Uuuuugh." I groaned as my body started giving me pain and a massive migraine. I almost wished I was numb from the cold again, but frostbite was bad.

"MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! AND MY TRAPS ARE EXCELLENTLY COOKED! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES!" Papyrus proudly justified his hesitation, and the fire and the other weapons went away. Including the dog, if he was a weapon. "PHEW!"

I raised my head and brought myself back to my feet, frowning at all the white and brightness of the wintery wonderland.

"DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS THE LAST YOU'LL SEE OF ME! THIS IS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS! NYEH... HEH..." Papyrus boasted.

"Come at me bro." I said, lifting my arms and swaying as I approached him.

"I WILL NOT BE SWAYED BY YOUR OFFER OF A HUG!" Papyrus yelled before quickly walking away.

"My dad says I'm a hugger." I said, giggling madly as I walked past Sans. Papyrus was much too fast, and I dropped my arms to look blankly at Sans. I was seeing double at this point. I wondered how I was staying awake, "It's a lie though. I dislike hugging." I corrected myself.

"I don't know what my brother's going to do now. If I were you, I would make sure to understand blue attacks. And maybe take a nap." Sans said helpfully.

"H'much hp do I 'ave?" I muttered, rubbing my eyes and yawning.

"How much do you think?" Sans asked.

"'ive." I grunted.

"Two. And it's slowly decreasing... maybe from how you're bleeding?" Sans corrected.

"Dang son." I chuckled, a question forming in my head, "One?" I pointed to him, looking confused.

"Yup."

"How?"

"How what?"

"The thing... with the..." nevermind." I muttered, stumbling away from the skeleton. I saw a sign and frowned at it, "Welcome..." I felt unease making my heart thunder in my chest even as relief settled in as I recognized the sign, but I was too dizzy to read it.

I felt something call me with a resonance with my soul, and ignored the stares of the townspeople as I followed it. The snow crunched underneath my feet and I reached out to touch the floating save point. My vision cleared and my arms mended in an instant, my clothes reforming as to what they were. I felt energy surge through me again, and I blinked.

Oh. My soul had been glowing bright in my chest the entire time, through my shirt. I quickly hid it back inside of myself, and retreated from the monster's stares into the Snowdin's inn.

A/N: Oh man this story was in the back of my mind but I never found the time or inspiration to actually write more of it.

Connie Hooper: Cliffhangers are pretty fun. Thanks!

Aurawarrior13: To be honest, I had your words echoing my mind as I wrote this chapter. Hopefully I got enough thought from the MC. Write on~!

: Thanks man.

ChillingShadow: Did this chapter answer your question?

PinkPippa: I'm happy that you find amusement in my silly story! I'm honestly making up 80% of this on the fly lol

Whack-A-Flowey: (x3) Oh my, thanks you for the reviews! High expectations give me reason to actually edit! Thanks! I'll try my best to update. Also, why would you give me Sans feels gosh darnnnn yoouuuu! XD


	8. Chapter 8: Orange and Red

(Warnings: existential crisis and blood, yup yup)

Chapter 8: Orange and Red

Orange walls, yellow tile floors, and warmth greeted me as I entered the inn. Paintings of the area caught my eye on the walls, and seeing something as familiar as that made me pause to examine it. It was the death cavern during snowfall, looking out to a place I had already trekked through, and I automatically felt a pulse of fear before I refocused and walked closer to examine the art. I wasn't the best painter, but I loved seeing art in person, seeing how the light shimmered across it, the colors that my eyes feasted on and learned from, being absorbed by the painting-

"Hey traveler! Welcome to Snowed Inn! Snowdin's premiere hotel!" The rabbit-person behind me called as I shifted from side to side. I almost blushed at the sudden attention before walking to the smiling rabbit. Her eyes were closed, but her ears were straight up and alert. A small white bunny child peeked up at me from behind the desk. Unsure of how to interact with kids, I looked away shyly.

"One stay is 80g!" The rabbit added. I frowned. I had _determination_ to fuel my body and push my tiredness away, but I didn't want to depend on it. Humans had to sleep. Besides, Sans told me to nap, and, well, I love naps. But at that price, frugality came to the surface as I remembered I barely had enough money for a spider doughnut. Where else could I stay, though?

"I'm... I'll take a room if I got enough money. I gotta count out the money, though." I said with a somewhat sheepish smile.

"Take your time!" The rabbit replied. I worked on untying a gold bag from my pants. My fingers were still defrosting, and I breathed on them. Eventually I took the bag from my belt loop and upturned it. A lot more than money poured out of the bag and onto the counter, including a bone, snow, and dozens of tennis balls. They bounced off the desk and rolled everywhere. The child rabbit laughed at me as I quickly closed the strange pouch.

"S-sorry! I was paid in dog stuff." I said to the rabbit, whom waved it off as she crouched to gather the tennis balls along with her son.

"Do not worry about it!" She said. I smiled and started counting the cold gold coins. I had about a hundred, and paid the rabbit for the room, taking the remaining coins. I quickly helped the two rabbits gather up the tennis balls and bones to stuff back into my bag while the snow slowly sparkled and melted.

"Mom, can I keep one?" The smaller rabbit asked, his little ears lowering a little.

"You will have to ask the customer, it belongs to them." The innkeeper said gently. I was confronted with a chubby white fluff with small ears holding a bright yellow ball.

"Y-yeah. You can keep it." I said quickly. I looked away from the rabbit kid's sparkling beady eyes and radiant smile.

"Oh! Thank you traveler!" The rabbit child said, hopping for joy. This boy could leap about three feet into the air. I chuckled nervously in response and walked to the stairs only to be stopped by the innkeeper.

"Here is your key. Be sure to bundle up!" She said with a much more genuine smile, holding it out to me. Oh. I took it with a burning face and retreated upstairs. I heard loud, floor-shaking snoring from another room, but I've slept through louder so I wasn't concerned. I looked at my key to find the number, and went to the appropriate room number to unlock it. _Right next to the snoring room, as usual._ I went inside and locked the door behind me. Taking a running start, I jumped onto the bed and buried myself under the covers.

Once my joyful squirming under the bedding was complete, I was greeted with some amount of peace and warmth. I closed my eyes, only to hear voices from below my room.

"Are you sure that wasn't a human here? We saw them with a human soul."

I opened my eyes, listening closely.

"There was no way she were a human! Humans kill monsters on sight! She gave me a gift, see!" The boy bunny said fiercely, probably showing them the tennis ball. I felt an odd mix of mortification and happiness that the kid was protecting me.

"Kid, I know what I saw!"

"It was probably a trick!"

"Did a monster take one of the souls?"

"I apologize, but you are disturbing my guests, could you please leave if you are not buying a room for the night?" The innkeeper's voice patiently said. I swung my feet over the side of the bed and sat up, frowning. I was just being a hassle by being here, wasn't I?

"... Come to think of it, a human would have never gotten past the royal guards and sentries, right?"

"Unless the guards are all dead..."

There was a moment of shocked silence before someone said, "I'm gonna go check Grillby's!"

"What is that going to indicate? They might be still patrolling."

Slowly, a risky plan began to form in my head. I stood up and walked to the door, gulping a bit. Taking the key out of my pocket, I unlocked the door and walked to the stairs. I paused at the top. Nobody else was getting out of their rooms, right? Wouldn't I be suspected if I came when they were calling for a human? I took a step back-

"Hey!" The tiny bunny boy softly called to me from the landing of the stairs, "Pssst! Come down and sort this out!"

I cursed my weakness for children as I stopped and started tiptoeing down the stairs. Bunny boy was twice as sneaky, darting down the stairs without a sound and hiding behind the counter. I got to the bottom, watching a group of rabbit people stare at me along with a somewhat distressed Innkeeper. Was I in the rabbit section of Snowdin or something?

"Yo." I said weakly, scratching my head, "I heard some commotion and I, uh, couldn't sleep."

"See? Let the traveler sleep!" The Innkeeper made a shooing motion with her paw-hands, "Do I have to call the guards?"

"Traveler, are you a human?" One of the rabbits in the group asked.

"..." I decided to say the unexpected, "Yeah." I drawled. Their expressions changed to confusion and shock, and my confidence grew, "What are you gonna do about it, though? You only got eyewitness reports and rumors." I saw many ears lower that day, "I'm gonna go back to bed, have fun gathering..." I trailed off before I could say anything too venomous, turning away. It felt _good_ to say that, but I could already feel guilty about saying that in such a tone. "Um..." I looked back at the slowly dispersing disheartened rabbits, "Sorry." I said, trying to make use all feel a little better. It didn't work. I sighed and walked back into my room to lock it.

I lie down on my temporary bed, and, of course, sleep didn't come easy. I thought of what to do next, my eyes unfocused. The requirements for a true ending crossed my mind. I would fulfill those requirements, and then ask to go home. Heck, maybe my world was the world above. Sounded easy, but words and actions were two different things. What... what if I couldn't go back home, though? Would I just go with Toriel? What if I got too attached to everyone here, and didn't want to go back? I could feel my resolve wavering. I had always dreamed of finding magic in my world, finding some semblance of immortality because I feared death so much. I turned and looked at the ceiling, tears pricking at the end of my eyes. Right now, I had no one to talk to about this. No one who could help me figure things out. I was lost.

I thought about my friends and family. They probably missed me. The monsters would understand if I had to leave, but on the human side... I had a best friend, and a great, loving family. But at the same time, I could be whatever I wanted to be here. I could save the monsters. I could destroy them. Maybe I could reset somehow before I die and never have to experience death. I could recreate and re-edit stories to my liking. All it took was for me to abandon all fear was to stop caring about anyone except myself.

... But if there was no one left for me, then what was the point of living? But if there was a point to life, then if a lost everything in the end, if I returned to the world where an afterlife was uncertain, then... What good would it do? I started fearing my own soul. It was easy, too easy, to turn into a demon with the amount of power Frisk's soul had. Was it my soul, or Frisk's? Did turning into a demon matter? What was the use of exerting any effort to save anyone if, when I died, I would forget... everything?

Again, I wished I could talk to someone. Maybe Sans would understand, but he didn't like talking about deep stuff so maybe... Papyrus? What if he didn't want to hear it? What if nobody wanted to listen to me? A memory echoed through my head.

" _Your words... I know you mean well, that you're just trying to figure things out, but thinking about that sort of stuff makes me want to die."_

Feeling like I would cry if I didn't do something, I stood up and grabbed my key to trudge out of my room and down the stairs, the wooden steps squeaking underneath my feet. I put the key on the counter and walked quickly to the door, ignoring the Innkeeper's confused look.

"Traveler, wait-" I ignored her voice as well, shoved the door open but closed it gently behind me, restlessly shifting from foot to foot. I walked to the store next to me, growling somewhat at the wintery air, and found myself at something like a thrift shop. I spotted jackets, but I was cautious about spending my money. I didn't plan on staying too long. I walked up to the counter, where a purple bunny spotted me.

"Hello, traveler. How may I help you?" She asked neutrally, crossing her arms and standing tall. I looked around but didn't find any game menu. Oh well. What was the point of looking?!

"Uh... do you have any gloves?" I asked, trying to calm the frustration off my face but not succeeding. The rabbit put two faded orange gloves with what looked infinity signs on the backs of the hands, with a price tag of 50g. Oh. The Tough Gloves. "You got a bandana?" I asked hopefully. An orange faded bandana was set on the table at the same price, and I tried not to think too much about how it might have used to of belonged to a dead human. The gloves seemed big enough to fit me, and I needed all the stats I could get. At least, I hope stats still existed. HP did, so... I stared at the gloves, trying to figure out its stats again.

 _... Tough Glove: +5 attack. Manly Bandana: +7 defense._ I thought, as if remembering something, _Hey, how do I quit?_ I thought quickly. I waited, but there was no response. _..._

I looked up to see the purple rabbit watching me patiently. I quickly fiddled with my money pouch and reached deep inside to pull out a handful of coins to put on the counter to count. 100g counted, I let the rabbit take it and pulled on the orange gloves. A bit tight, but I could move my fingers fine. They creaked a bit like leather. I took the bandana and tied it loosely around my neck. The cloth was a little worn, but the abs on it were clear. If it would protect me, I would rather my neck be the spot that it protected.

"Thanks." I said, feeling slightly more ready. A sweet smell hit my nostrils as I started calming down, "... you sell food, right?"

"Yes I do! You can buy a bisicle, or a cinnamon bun. The cinnamon bun is my own recipe!" The merchant said proudly.

"I'll buy a few cinnamon buns, how much are they?"

And so I ended up with five warm cinnabuns. They looked like unfrosted cinnamon rolls with a honey-like liquid on top. I carefully put them into one of my now-empty money pouches and licked the honey off my tough gloves. Maybe not the cleanest thing in the world, but it was sweet relief for my taste buds and spirit.

"Alright, thanks. See ya." I said, waving to the rabbit and walking to the door.

"Bye now! Come again sometime!" The merchant rabbit called as I left.

By now, I was sorta used to the cold. Not enough to go rolling about in the snow, but it was bearable. Shivering was something I would get used to. Looking ahead, I could see the other side of town down the long road.

"I'm not going to die tonight." I said softly as I walked. I almost wanted to run, to get it over with, but I was going to save my energy. I was going to put on a show. _False bravado, don't fail me now._

I saw many monsters here and there, walking about and putting presents underneath decorated trees. Some kids were chatting or chasing one another. I spotted a small yellow dinosaur without arms daydreaming and tried not to stare. I saw a bear-like monster wearing orange clothes in front of Grillby's, cheerfully telling passerby about politics. The windows were tinted orange and said that they were open. I would probably go in to look around, but later. I would explore later. I was already uneasy with all the monsters around. If I brought my soul out, they would all kill me. _Just like a bunch of wild, starving animals. No they're not, Kai. But it is true- Shut it._

I walked faster, past the Libarby, past the Bone Brothers' snow-and-tinsel covered house and into a pathway in the forest. My breaths quickened. The babble of the town faded. The crunch of the snow and growing frosty fog giving me goosebumps on my skin were my only company. It became harder and harder to see in the distance. I took a deep breath.

"PAPYRUS!" I yelled, my hands clenching and shaking, "WHERE ARE YOU, PAPYRUS?!"

"HUMAN." A familiar proud voice in the distance yelled back. I followed the path to find a tall shadow in the fog, and stopped. He wasn't my friend. Not yet. I had to be careful. Immediately my soul flared, casting a red light in the fog around me. It was cold, but what else was new?

"Wassup, nunchuck?" I said nervously with a fake grin, even if we couldn't see each other's faces.

"NUNCHUCK? I AM PAPYRUS." Papyrus said defiantly, his silohuette standing tall, "ALLOWS ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. FEELINGS LIKE... THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER PASTA LOVER. THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER'S PUZZLE SOLVING SKILLS." I had heard this all before... it was kinda comforting to know what would happen, though, "THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK THAT YOU ARE COOL. THESE FEELINGS... THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW!"

"You sure that's not what you're feeling?" I asked cheekily.

"NONSENSE, HUMAN." Papyrus denied instantly, "I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO FEEL THAT WAY. AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT. I DON'T EVER WONDER WHAT HAVING LOTS OF FRIENDS IS LIKE."

"Tsundere." I muttered, smirking.

"ARE YOU STRUCK INTO MUTTERING? I PITY YOU, LONELY HUMAN..." Papyrus paused and my smile faded. "WORRY NOT! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR..." He paused again.

"Friend?" I said helpfully, and he quickly turned away.

"... NO. NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG! I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND!" He faced towards and pointed at me, accusingly. I lifted up my hands. Hey, being human wasn't my fault, but I guess it had to be this way. "YOU ARE A HUMAN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU! THEN, I CAN FUFILL MY LIFELONG DREAM!"

"Dream, huh?" I muttered. Did I want to throw away every personal connection to no longer fear death? Did Papyrus want to throw away his kindness to be full of pride? Right now my dream was unclear.

"POWERFUL! POPULAR! PRESTIGIOUS! THAT'S PAPYRUS! THE NEWEST MEMBER..." Papyrus was shifting his stance, on hand resting on his hipbone. Suddenly, the fog cleared in a gust of wind, his cape fluttering as it did, my bandana, pants, and sweater fluttering slightly, "... OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"

"... Does pride mean that much to you? Papyrus, you're very popular and powerful already, you don't need to-"

"F-FLIRTING?! W-WELL, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I'M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS."

I stared at him blankly while he glared defiantly at me.

"We should make spaghetti together." I suggested.

"OH NO! THAT SORT OF EVENT... IT WOULD MAKE YOU MEET ALL MY STANDARDS! I GUESS THIS MEANS I'LL HAVE TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU...? L-LET'S DATE LATER! AFTER THIS!" Papyrus said, but still kept his defiant look. The ground rippled with tiny bones like a wave and I reflexively summoned my soul to float over them. Somehow, I couldn't feel any ill intent come from the skeleton.

"After what? You capture me?" I asked, landing when I could. I didn't like to stay in battle mode with such an easygoing attack. I could already see the area around us getting darker, and the ice blocks in the river shifting shape...

"YES!" Papyrus replied, the ground rippling with bones here and there enough to catch my attention. He shook his hips and shoulders and his bones rattled against each other like a bunch of giant wood chimes.

"You gonna go on a date with me in a cage?" I asked, snickering.

"YES? WHAT IS SO FUNNY, HUMAN?" Papyrus narrowed his eyeholes at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and flipped around in circles.

"I'm not going to fight you, dude." I said, firing finger guns at him while I was hanging upside down. I think I was getting a hang of this flying thing.

"SO YOU WON'T FIGHT... THEN, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE MY FABLED 'BLUE ATTACK'!" Papyrus announced, light blue bones appearing in front of him and all around me. I simply kept myself still and let them pass through me, but realized my bad position too late.

 _ **Ding!**_

I suddenly face-planted into the snow. Unable to recover, a bone slammed into my stomach and left my rolling on the ground. It felt like someone had wacked me lightly in the gut with a sledgehammer. I vaguely realized my soul was now glowing blue, and gravity wasn't such a joke anymore. "YOU'RE BLUE NOW. THAT'S MY ATTACK!" Papyrus said gleefully, "NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

"Ow." I chuckled uneasily, standing back up and testing how high I could jump. Not that high. "You got me there, man." I muttered, eying my injury.

"HMM... I WONDER WHAT I SHOULD WEAR..." Papyrus talked to himself as he eyed a sudden array of perfumes he took out from his pocket. I ran and jumped over bones jutting out of the ground and ended up slipping on the snow. I rolled back to my feet, walking over to see the perfumes he was looking at.

"You look pretty good in orange." I said, touching my bandana, "And I like minty tea scented perfumes." I added with a grin.

"WHAT?! I'M NOT THINKING ABOUT THE DATE THING!" Papyrus yelled, more bones coming at me this time. I didn't have time to laugh at such an indignant response as I jumped over them and they made me retreat from whatever perfumes Papyrus was looking at. The bones gradually got higher and higher until I had to pull up my legs to my chest to leap over them. I tried my best not to show how difficult they were to clear. In a pause between bone waves, I walked spotted Papyrus was dabbing perfume behind his earholes in front of floating mirror held by tiny bones. He was barely paying attention to me at this point.

"I'm still not gonna fight, man." I said, kicking snow at his boots.

"YEAH! DON'T MAKE ME USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus summoned even more waves of bones this time and they flew at me. I frowned and dove between gaps between floating and ground bones, sometimes using my hands to hurl myself over the smaller ones. Gravity still claimed me, but I was still stronger than before, and fueled by my growing adrenaline and _determination_. I had a few scrapes on my legs and back from not jumping at the right moment, but I wasn't panicked enough yet to not feel pain. That quickly changed as Papyrus loudly praised himself and his future, his waves of bones seeming to match his growing resolve, I could feel my muscles straining to jump so fast and my soul constantly straining to resist the blue magic, I stepped on the small bones, my shoes and ankles were being torn apart, my gloves and hands were in no better shape as I tried to use my arms instead of my legs, and soon Papyrus was cackling, and I felt somewhat like a tiger at a circus trying to leap through holes of bones just big enough for my body.

I had enough and reach into my squishy gold bag to quickly stuff a cinnamon bun into my mouth. Papyrus looked at me as he spoke about how everyone would praise him and his life would be better once I was captured, his expression slightly shifting between defiance and regret, as if almost in argument with himself. I found a pathway through the bones and stopped a few feet in front of him, reaching into my pouch.

"Papyrus, you want a cinnamon roll?" I called, holding one out.

"WILL ANYONE LIKE ME AS SINCERELY AS YOU?" Papyrus seemed to ask himself, and paused at the offer, "N-NO! I'M FINE!"

I shrugged and shove the sticky thing back into my pocket. I watched the next wave come towards me, and ducked, leaped, and belly-flopped around the blasted things.

"AND DATING MIGHT BE HARD... AFTER YOU'RE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY..." Papyrus said, in a softer yell than usual.

"Y-ou-hoo think s-oof." I said in breathless sarcasm as I slipped on the snow and got slapped in the face by a blue bone midfall.

"URGH... WHO CARES! GIVE UP!" Papyrus seemed to have decided on attacking, and sent bone wave after bone wave after me. These stupid bonesmoved and spun, and I had to retreat back to almost the tree line to dodge them.

"With the power of cinnamon rolls, you will nehrmph harmphhm heh!" I declared, stuffing another one into my mouth. I wanted to hit something with how painful getting my hands and feet cut up was. Papyrus demanded that I give up over and over, but I refused. "Dude! This isn't funny anymore, quit it!" I snapped, frustration flaring up at getting beaten up so much. I wanted to punch this guy.

"BEHOLD...! MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus wasn't even listening to me at this point, and I sat on the ground to catch my breath as he yelled at a silly white dog chewing on one of his bone attacks. Papyrus chased the dog away before walking back and summoning a mountain of bones behind him. He sighed loudly, "... HERE'S AN ABSOLUTELY NORMAL ATTACK."

It was still a pretty rough time for a normal attack. I crouched and jumped, twisted, had my soul change my direction in midair, and growled whenever a bone hit me hard enough to explode-snap into two. Bones spelled out 'COOL' then 'DUDE' came surging at me horizontally, and I duck-jumped through the C and over the U. An innumerable amount of bones simply surrounded me and surged towards me, along with giant bones that went up into the fog and out of sight. I resisted the pull of the blue magic on my soul with all my strength and took a running start to jump over the deadly bones. Somehow I managed to clear to top of it, before falling and landing hard on the ground. I quickly sat up as I barely managed to stand up to step over a remaining slow-moving bone.

Papyrus and I were both out of breath at this point, and I was having trouble standing.

"WELL...!" Papyrus gasped for air, "IT'S CLEAR... YOU CAN'T!" He took a deep breath as I sat back down. "DEFEAT ME!" Papyrus managed to catch his breath quicker than I did. "THEREFORE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU PITY! I WILL SPARE YOU, HUMAN!" I collapsed into the snow in relief, laughing and bleeding. "NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO ACCEPT MY MERCY!" I gave a thumbs up, huffing out steam.

"Please spare me." I said. The fog cleared around us, and Papyrus's arms fell back to his sides. Turning my head towards him, he looked quite sad.

"NYOO HOO HOO... I CAN'T EVEN STOP SOMEONE AS WEAK AS YOU... UNDYNE'S GONNA BE DISAPPOINTED IN ME. I'LL NEVER JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD... AND... MY FRIEND QUANTITY WILL REMAIN STAGNANT..." He did indeed quite sadly sigh. I sat up, thinking about that.

"Hey Papyrus, can we talk? I wanna get some stuff off my chest," I said with a small, hopeful smile, "Hey, we might even get to be friends."

"REALLY?! YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS? WITH ME?" Papyrus asked happily, and I nodded back. I was too tired and sweaty to stand up at the moment. My bloodied fingers carefully picking apart a cinnabun as I listened. "I GUESS I CAN MAKE AN ALLOWANCE FOR YOU! WOWIE... WE HAVEN'T HAD OUR FIRST DATE... AND I'VE ALREADY MANAGED TO HIT THE FRIEND ZONE! WHO KNEW THAT ALL I NEEDED TO MAKE PALS... WAS TO GIVE PEOPLE AWFUL PUZZLES AND THEN FIGHT THEM?" I chuckled at that. "I HEREBY GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO PASS THROUGH! AND I'LL GIVE YOU DIRECTIONS TO THE SURFACE. CONTINUE FORWARD UNTIL YOU REACH THE END OF THIS CAVERN. THEN... WHEN YOU REACH THE CAPITAL, CROSS THE BARRIER. THAT'S THE MAGICAL SEAL TRAPPING US ALL UNDERGROUND. ANYTHING CAN ENTER THROUGH IT, BUT NOTHING CAN EXIT... EXCEPT SOMEONE WITH A POWERFUL SOUL ... LIKE YOU! THAT'S WHY THE KING WANTS TO AQUIRE A HUMAN. HE WANTS TO OPEN THE BARRIER WITH SOUL POWER. THEN US MONSTERS CAN RETURN TO THE SURFACE! OH, I ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU." Papyrus's face turned serious as he frowned. Where his eyebrows came from, I had no idea. "TO REACH THE EXIT, YOU WILL HAVE TO PASS THROUGH THE KING'S CASTLE. THE KING OF ALL MONSTERS... HE IS... WELL..." Papyrus grinned with his eyes and his... jaw corners?, "HE IS A BIG FUZZY PUSHOVER! EVERYBODY LOVES THAT GUY. I AM CERTAIN IF YOU JUST SAY 'EXCUSE ME, MR. DREEMURR... CAN I PLEASE GO HOME?' HE'LL GUIDE YOU RIGHT TO THE BARRIER HIMSELF! ANYWAY! THAT'S ENOUGH TALKING! I'LL BE AT HOME BEING A COOL FRIEND! FEEL FREE TO COME BY AND HAVE THAT DATE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

He ran into the air somehow and over me, breaking all laws of physics. I watched him go, perplexed, before my soul finally turned red again. I quickly hid my soul back inside myself and stood up. Taking my last cinnamon bun, I nibbled on it. I looked to the cave, and then to Snowdin, and then at the magic pastry I was eating. It was healing my body, including my clothes and the tough glove.

"Man, this thing is tasty." I muttered, curling up to rest my forehead onto my knees. Should I continue forward? Or talk to Papyrus? "Ahhhh what the heck." I stood up, brushed myself off, and headed back towards Snowdin. That skeleton grew on me.

I licked my healed gloves and despaired the loss of the sweet pastry to my stomach. The food here was too tasty. I wished I could bring a bunch home with me, if, no, _when_ I got home. I wanted to go home, right? Well...

It didn't take long to reach the bone brother's house, where Papyrus was waiting outside. From the way my skin was pulled and my joints cracked I was pretty sure the entirety of my limbs were covered in a layer of blood from the injuries that opened and closed so often underneath my clothes. I was ready for a date, anytime anywhere.

"SO YOU CAME BACK TO HAVE A DATE WITH ME." Papyrus stated, standing a little taller so he could uh, look down on me? We were about the same height. "YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS..." He said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with his giant mitt, "I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE REALLY SPECIAL... A PLACE WHERE I SPEND A LOT OF TIME!"

I kinda stood there as he walked off, paused, and gestured for me to follow through the crowd of curious villagers looking at what Papyrus was up to. I trotted after him, we made a U turn at Grillby's, and stopped.

"MY HOUSE!" Papyrus announced proudly, rocketing through the door and shutting it behind him. I entered.

The smell of dirty socks, tomato sauce, and... milk? greeted me as I closed the door behind me, zigzag sea green and purple carpet squishing a little beneath my shoes. It was... a very boyish smell, I think I automatically took off my snowy black shoes and left them by the door to enjoy the feeling of a carpet underneath my feet. My socks were bloodstained and damp, so I took them off, too, and put them into my shoes. I then found my feet was kinda still bloody too, I was mostly healed but not completely, and stood on my shoes to avoid getting the carpet any more bloodstained than it actually was underneath myself. Blood was terribly messy.

"Uh..." I set my socks aside and put my shoes back on, "There." I walked to Papyrus. "Hey, uh, what do you wanna do?" I asked.

"I WANTED TO LET YOU EXPLORE THE PLACE." Papyrus said.

"I'm cool." I said, trotting up the wooden steps to his room, "I don't really like going into rooms I'm not supposed to go in, even at a friend's house." I walked along the upper hallway without rails, glancing from the shifting lights from under Sans's door, to the area Papyrus was watching me from. "Does anyone ever fall from here?" I asked, not quite fearing leaning over the edge slightly because I could catch myself.

"NO, UNLESS THEY'RE CARRYING A LARGE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND CAN'T SEE. I FREQUENTLY CREATE MY OWN SET OF STAIRS." Papyrus said conversationally.

"How do you create your own set of stairs?" I asked, amused.

"BY BEING GREAT, OF COURSE." Papyrus said as if this was obvious.

"Gotcha." I debated jumping down, but decided that would be a recipe for disaster. I walked to the door with caution tape and red signs saying 'stay out!' 'No boys allowed! No girls allowed! Papyrus allowed!'. I looked to Papyrus.

"THAT'S MY ROOM! IF YOU'VE FINISHED LOOKING AROUND... WE CAN GO IN AND..." Papyrus's voice got a little more confused, "DO WHATEVER PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY DATE?"

It was kind of amusing to refer it as a date, but at the same time it made me feel... odd, in a bad way, and so said, "Papyrus?"

"YES?"

"It's not going to be like a... romantic date, right? Like a friend date?" I asked awkwardly, scratching the back of my neck. My face felt a little hot. "Um..."

"OH!" Papyrus paused to think about that, "I THOUGHT... THAT YOU LIKED ME IN... _THAT_ WAY... BECAUSE YOU ADMIRED ME SO MUCH! I WANTED TO RETURN YOUR FEELINGS SOMEHOW DURING THE COURSE OF THE DATE. I SUPPOSE WE COULD... 'HANG OUT' INSTEAD?"

"Yeah, I just wanna chat privately like friends do." I said with a shrug, "You wanna go in your room or...?"

"...YES, YOU MAY ENTER MY ROOM." Papyrus said as if bestowing upon me a great honor. I turned the knob to do so.

Inside was magenta walls, a red racecar bed, zigzag capet, a purple rug with flames, a bookshelf full of books, a computer and a table full of figurines that looked to be in some sort of battle. I couldn't find anywhere to sit, so I sat with my legs to the side on the purple carpet with orange flames patterns around the borders. I looked up to Papyrus.

"I'VE HONESTLY NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE... BUT DO NOT WORRY! I BORROWED A HOW-TO BOOK FROM THE LIBRARY!" Papyrus proudly took out a book.

"Dude, just sit down or something, I know how to hang out." I chuckled. Noticing his hesitation, I added reluctantly, "Unless you wanted to take a walk outside or something? I don't think you're the type to sit still for too long."

"NONSENSE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS THE MASTER OF STAYING STILL." Papyrus said, sitting down across from me with his legs criss-crossed, "WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF SITTING UPON THE FLOOR?" He asked curiously.

"Well, I'm lazy." I said with a grin, "And I'll end up pacing if I stand, which eliminates eye contact a lot. I just wanna figure some things out." I said, my smile fading, "Such as... why did you give up your dream for me?"

"WELL, YOU SEE, I WANTED TO CAPTURE YOU BUT YOU... YOU GAVE ME SO MUCH ADMIRATION. AND AFTER I SPARED YOU, YOU BECAME MY FRIEND. I DO NOT WANT TO CAPTURE YOU NOW." Papyrus explained, "IS ASKING QUESTIONS WHAT 'HANGING OUT' IS ABOUT?"

"Yeah, it's a lot like your training. Hanging out is just letting you share your thoughts and get connected more, little by little." I said, smiling a bit, "But that's just my opinion."

"HAVE YOU BEEN TAKING TRAINING TOO?" Papyrus asked excitedly.

"Not guard training..." My tongue slipped, shoot! "Uh... I guess running away from monsters is kinda like training?"

"HM... TRAINING TO BE A HUMAN? I AM CONFUSED."

"Forget about it." I waved it off nervously, looking away. I lightly made circled in the carpet with my somewhat ragged gloves out of habit, "I have... two choices ahead of me." I said hesitantly, looking directly at his eyeholes. Papyrus watched me expectantly, and I ended up looking away. _Why was I talking to him?_ I thought, _Didn't he hurt me? Doesn't he barely know me?_ "Uh..." Who else was, there, really? "How do I say it... I'm bad with words, my thought to speak isn't really working correctly..."

"I BELIEVE IN YOU." Papyrus encouraged.

"Thanks." I said, suddenly finding my fingers quite interesting, "You see... I... feel like I'm not going to be a nice person if I stay long enough here. I-I'm a human, and humans get greedy if they ha-have power long enough, n-now that I'm here I just don't know if I want to leave, if my connections to the... above world are strong enough." I looked up at him, "How do you do it? How do you keep being kind, when it- _life_ gives you nothing you want in return?"

"HNMMM..." Papyrus seemed to squint and rub his chin, thinking about that, "FROM MY EXPERIENCE, NEGATIVITY ONLY CREATES MORE NEGATIVITY. SO I TRY TO BE THE BEST SKELETON I CAN BE! THAT WAY, EVERYONE IS A LITTLE BIT MORE HAPPY."

"Ah..." I remembered now, "I wonder what made me forget... Maybe the stress?" I smiled a bit, it seemed like a likely answer, "If the world is going to end for me... then I might as well make it a best of a place it can be, right?" I repeated my usual anti-nihilistic outlook on life to reassure myself, to push away my fear, but my expression became dark again, "But if the world won't end for me... If I don't want my world to end... What's the purpose of a dream? What's the purpose of an ending?"

I trailed off, and there was silence between us. Papyrus's eyebrows had appeared and he looked a tad stressed.

"... I THINK THIS PUZZLE IS SOMETHING EVERYONE SOLVES DIFFERENTLY. MY DREAMS ARE SOMETHING I LOOK FORWARD TO, AND I CAN MAKE UP NEW ONES IF THEY ARE NOT _GREAT_ ENOUGH FOR ME." He switched to a defiant frown, "BUT ENOUGH OF THIS TALK! I HAVE A GIFT FOR YOU!" He stood up but paused, "A COMPLETELY PLATONIC GIFT! LIKE SANTA!" I gave him a thumbs up.

He zoomed out of the room, leaving the door open. I let myself fall on the flame rug, exhausted from fighting, sharing so much, everything really.

There was a clanging from the kitchen, and I army-crawled over to the ledge to peek over at what Papyrus was doing. A white dog sprinted out of the kitchen and through the door with an impressively giant bone in his mouth. Papyrus, in a completely different 'cool dude' outfit, chased after it as it escaped out the door and yelled angrily, "COME BACK HERE YOU DARN MUTT!"

A trombone vibrated through the air in a mocking tune and I looked over to see the room to San's door ajar, and the horn gleaming gold.

"SANS QUIT PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!" Papyrus protested, stomping on the ground a few time. I rolled back into Papyrus's room, chuckling. After a few seconds, his boots thumped up behind me.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted while I lazily looked up to him from the floor, "BEHOLD, MY SECRET HANGOUT OUTFIT." He had bright orange basketballs on his shoulders, and a neon orange jersey, shoes and shorts. He was blinding to look at. "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT?!"

"It's flipping incredible." I said, wide eyed and fascinated at how violently the colors were assaulting my eyes, "I was right, you do look great in orange!" I said louder, standing back up to try to get back on his level. My feet throbbed slightly in protest but I ignored them.

"ARGH! A GENUINE COMPLIMENT!" Papyrus dramatically clutched his chest as if he was stabbed, "IT'S TOO POWERFUL!" He recovered, "NO! NOTHING IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

Excited by his reaction, I took off my bandana, "Oh! Wear this, too! You can be a basketball cowboy-skeleton!" I held it up to him.

"WHAT?! G-GIVING ME A GIFT BEFORE I CAN G-GIVE MINE IN ORDER TO ENHANCE MY COOL LOOK?!" Papyrus exclaimed, hesitating to take it.

"Yeah. Never saw that one coming, huh?" I said _cooly_. I could just buy another one, right?

Papyrus stumbled, almost fell, but he grabbed his knee and pushed to keep himself standing, "NYEH! NYEH HEH HEH!" He took the bandana as he laughed nervously, "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NEVER BE BESTED AT HANGING OUT, AND I NEVER WILL!"

"Bring it on, man!" I had the biggest grin on my face at the moment.

"OF COURSE, YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE TRUE _SECRET POWER_ OF THIS OUTFIT! SO YOUR COMPLIMENTS ABOUT IT ARE INVALID!" Papyrus tied the bandana around his neck as he spoke so that the knot was in front, like a tiny orange cape, "NOT UNLESS YOU FIND IT, AND YOU NEVER WILL!"

"Hmmm..." I looked him up and down, just for show, before I reached up and took his cap to put on my head instead. Balancing perfectly on his head was a wrapped present with blue wrapping paper and black ribbon.

"YOU FOUND MY SECRET! I SUPPOSE I HAVE NO CHOICE. IT'S A PRESENT! A PRESENT J-JUST FOR YOU!" Papyrus was nervous again. I took the present in one hand and put his hat back right side on his head with the other. I took a moment to examine how the light from a fan-lamp sparkled across the shiny wrapping before opening it before tearing it open. A few uncooked noodle pieces fell on the carpet before I carried the box the right way. Inside was a smeary concoction of rice-like uncooked noodle pieces and smashed tomato bits on a plate. Was this universe trying to stick me back on the game's track?

"It's your spaghetti, right?" I said, reaching into a pouch to pull out a cold meatball from gosh-knows how long ago. I sniffed it. It smelled ok, so I would eat it, probably.

"IT'S NOT JUST PLAIN-OL' PASTA! THIS IS AN ARTISAN'S CRAFT, NOODLES FINELY AGED IN AN OAKEN CASE, THEN TAKEN OUT AND COOKED BY MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS!" Papyrus declared.

"Thanks, man." I said, scooping it up with my gloved hand because I didn't have a fork. I bit into the (in)famous dish and paused. Crunchy noodles and smashed vegetables and a weird combination of spices overwhelmed my taste buds and my brain could not put exact words as to how it tasted, so a utterly perplexed expression formed on my face. It reminded me of when I myself brought food as a surprise to my best friend's house. It was a soup I made myself, and the meat inside was crunchy for some reason, but...

"WHAT A PASSIONATE EXPRESSION! HOW IS IT?" Papyrus asked an unexpected question, bringing me somewhat out of my thoughts.

"I..." I felt a huge stab of homesickness stab me. I wanted to see my best friend, to make food for her again. My face twisted and ears suddenly dripped down my face, still chewing, "I-I can hare-ly smallow it, b-but I wove the hauce."

"OH. OH!" Papyrus looked shocked, "THE GREAT PAPYRUS'S SPAGHETTI IS TOO POWERFUL! IT BROUGHT YOU TO TEARS!"

Somehow, I managed to force it down.

"I'm good!" I said with a big grin, coughing a bit and wiping away my tears on my sleeve. And then I took another bite. Papyrus's reaction was to stumble up and lean heavily against a wall, trying to recover.

"Y-YOU LOVE MY SPAGHETTI SO MUCH, AND BY EXTENSTION, ME?! HUMAN, YOUR, YOUR FRIENDSHIP LEVEL IS TOO MUCH FOR ME TO HANDLE!" He said, standing up straight again, "I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO RECIPROCATE TO YOUR AFFECTIONS!" He admitted, "NO, WAIT, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN HANDLE ANYTHING!" He countered himself.

"Ya' halready are bein a cooh' frien', man." I said reassuringly with a mouthful of rubber and tomato sauce.

"NOOOOOOO! YOUR COUNTERATTACK!" Papyrus screeched, making me nearly choke on the spaghetti with hysteric laughter, "LISTEN, HUMAN, I HAVE AN PLAN FOR YOU!"

I managed to calm myself down and swallow the second bite of pasta before looking at him curiously. My taste buds we still in shock.

"YOU HAVE GREAT FRIENDLINESS POWER. I THINK YOU SHOULD SPREAD IT ELSEWHERE, IT WOULD BE HEALTHY FOR YOU." He said. I shifted from foot to foot, uncertain about it. "I KNOW! WE CAN HANG OUT WITH UNDYNE!"

"Doesn't Undyne hate humans?" I said, scratching the side of my neck awkwardly.

"DO NOT WORRY, HUMAN! YOU ARE VERY GREAT! YOU CHANGED MY MIND, SO YOU CAN CHANGE HERS!" Papyrus encouraged.

"I... guess." I smiled a little. Papyrus... didn't exist right? But still... his actions... "I'll do it for you, buddy." I said with a smile.

"ARGH! QUIT FLIRTING WITH ME! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS." Papyrus stormed out of the room. I giggled and followed him out.

"I'm not flirting with you!" I protested.

"HUMAN, I'M GOING TO DO... SOMETHING, I'LL MEET YOU AT UNDYNE'S HOUSE!" Papyrus said from the lower floor as I stood to look down at him. He paused, "OH, BY THE WAY, HERE'S MY PHONE NUMBER." He reached up to give me a slip of paper from the bottom floor and I crouched to reach it. "CALL ME ANY TIME. PLATONICALLY." He added.

"See ya, cool dude!" I said, shuffling around in my pockets for my underused cell phone. Papyrus waved and exited the house, leaving me to type in his phone number on Toriel's ancient fliphone. I wondered how it hadn't died yet. Magic, probably.

Sitting on the ledge of the second floor, I was left with more time to think.

 _I might as well give him a happy ending, right?_ I thought, my feet softly thumping on the wall, _I dunno... I do want to find out how I got here and how to get out._ I sighed. _Frisk, where are you? You belong in my spot, not me._ I looked up at the ceiling and then to Sans's door. It was so quiet. _Was Sans still there? Maybe I can ask him... about Gaster? I want more information about the game's code... to consider my options more. I haven't really decided yet. I know where to find him._

I stood up and walked back to the door. Pulling my crusty covered socks back on with crusty covered limbs, I put my shoes back on. With that, I continued on through the cold, past the snow that was still red.

A/N: I had fun writing this, but... ugh, reading it over, I took too much dialogue from Papyrus in the game. He's a really fun guy to interact with but surprisingly difficult to write; I don't think I've ever written a person who's so proud, dramatic, fun, and such a pure hearted kind soul at the same time. I still don't think I grasp him well enough. Heck, Sans is easier to write than him, and he's got more layers than an onion.

PenNinja1300: I'm glad you've reviewed again! :3

AuraWarrior13: Thank you! If monster food didn't heal I think the MC would be flippin fainting from blood loss lol


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